Carl of duty and the PC benchmark of 2007

Call-o-duty black ops is fairly short and sweet but since I got it on sale for 19.99 so I don't feel terribly cheated-  "cheated" though? Why does this purchase invoke that feeling. Well the game was fun as was the multiplayer it offered as it was your typical call of duty modern warfare ...fare so what was I expecting?  I was expecting something worse to be honest but my impossibly high standards have left me burdened with my spoiledness with various other gems to compare it to. More prominently and somewhat louder I guess is a voice in the back of my mind that keeps nagging me "You should of waited for it to be cheaper." and I probably should have seeing as how I'm not going to bother with the multiplayer- arguably the main focus of the game. I could of just as easily pirated the game for the single player and been done with it but there's no sense in feeling regret about it now I suppose. Personally, I blame Gabe for making games so reasonably priced that even a tight ass like myself breaks down and buys them. 

A whole paragraph on buyer's remorse, a cynical asshat am I to be sure. 

Black Ops  is yet another game that pretty much has it all in the title. You're the no joke dude sent in do complete secret operations, you get captured twice thrice and escape every time, wield a mini gun with your bear hands (he's in Russia at the time yuk yuk), shoot explosive crossbow darts,  and various other manly things. Its actually nice to see a game acting like a video game again and by this I mean I want to see a future call of duty game have you fighting space nazis on the moon while riding on a dinosaur that has lazer guns for hands. Make it happen treyarch.  To be more clear- I want to see more ridiculousness that borders on surreal so that when I'm playing  a game I'm genuinely entranced in the universe it presents. Its obvious that with the Call of  Duty franchise they have a lot more creative freedom to enjoy and that's never a bad thing.

Interesting tidbit though, I did some research and a lot of the guns in Black Ops shouldn't actually exist... at least in the time line Black Ops presents.  For a more elaborate explanation check out this page on imfdb. The word they use a lot is "anachronism" which , as wikipedia reads- 

"An anachronism, from the Greek ανά (ana: up, against, back, re-) and χρόνος (chronos: time), is a chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of person(s), events, objects, or customs from different periods of time. Often the item misplaced in time is an object, but it may be a verbal expression, a technology, a philosophical idea, a musical style, a material, a custom, or anything else associated with a particular period in time so that it is incorrect to place it outside its proper temporal domain."

Its a really cool word but the chance to use it comes up so rarely due to the abstract definition. 

Well that's enough reflection today. I've yet to beat crysis so I don't yet feel qualified to speak on it in depth as of yet, but I feel compelled to as it has given me some unique experiences. 

So I got a few games during the steam sale, allow me to run through them with you and explain why you should of bought them if you haven't already.


Shoot Many Robots is pretty much what the title says. I bought a four pack for the price of a cheap pair of sun glasses- 7.50 or so. While on the surface it looks like your typical side-scrolling shooter, reminiscent of Metal Slug or Gun Star Heroes it has some things that set it apart.

The most stand out feature is the character customization which is arguably the back bone of the game. Basically you unlock and find items through leveling up your character or finding things in the map. You can assemble some rather odd looks for your robot killing paper doll, each piece of equipment having different stats that affect how they move or how much health they have among other various stats and perks.

It also has a comical style that feels like a bit of borderlands and redneck rampage with and maybe a dash of   the aforementioned metal slug. It also has music that adapts to the tone of the gameplay becoming more frantic when lots of killer robots are on screen and cooling down when you're idly strolling through a level. A lot of games do this but an equally large amount don't and this makes me quite sad. On a similar note (terrible pun) the music matches the atmosphere of the game wonderfully...unless you don't like rock and roll at which point you need to re-examine your tastes. I hate don't agree with Ubisoft's DRM and their poor management of otherwise good properties but this is a great game even if its by a not so great publisher.

the brief-
+4 player co-op
+lots of customization
+highly stylized world
+good music
+easy to get into

-Not the deepest gameplay
-the grind for the lewt
-its not on sale anymore


the verdict-
BUY THIS GAME
=====================================================

Renegade ops is pretty much your favorite SNES game you never got to play and wanted to exist. Well seeing how its published by Sega perhaps that description leaves something to be desired but I digress. This is the kind of over the top A-team styled story you've been waiting for in a game for a while. I forget how much I payed for the 4 pack but I think it was similarly priced to shoot many robots respectively.

Like shoot many robots, Renegade Ops is pretty much describes itself. (a disturbing pattern seems to be emerging...) You can take control of up to 4 renegade operators and drive around in supped up combat vans and speed buggies. There's also a Gordon Freeman character which prompted me to call foul but he's about as renegade as you're gonna get so I let it go even if it breaks the fourth wall of this games's universe.  You basically travel the globe hunting down Dr. Evil or his somewhat more menacing counterpart as the case may be, holding down the fire button and killing everything while collecting power ups and racking up high score. GREAT

The game's art style makes me think of venture brothers which is never a bad thing, albeit it lacks the more comic styling of said show. The game has a leveling system because it has to keep you hooked, wherein you unlock skills by leveling up. The character's vehicles are all the same in that they all upgrade their guns the same way and they can all collect special weapons. Each character has their own special ability which I believe is in place merely for the sake of arguing with your friends over who their favorite character is. There's much else to say past that, its pretty straight forward drive and shoot.

the brief-

+4 player co-op
+easy to get into
+unique art style
+over the top atmosphere that pokes fun at 90's games
+Cars n guns

-Controls are a bit stiff with keyboard, and crazy with a gamepad, pick your poison
-somewhat repetitive game play
-not on sale


the verdict-
BUY THIS GAME
=====================================================


Next time I'll talk about Call of Duty Black Ops and Crysis. Mainstream enough for you? Also I'm late to the party I know.  I need to talk about things other than video games at some point. Wanna hear about life at a call center? Yea I thought not.

games, games, games

So I've been playing a lot of video games- primarily World of Tanks. Thanks to steam  my library  has increased substantially with the summer sales. For anyone who has kept up with my blog regularly I apologize with the lack of updates. I'll go into detail of what I got tomorrow but I have lots of work to do when the dawn comes.