January 23 – January 27

Section: 

Ok. I'm ready for some big game releases again.

The break from the busy holiday season was nice and all, and I happily feel like I've cleansed my palate, but I'd be fine with some massive game to get really excited about again. I know a lot of people don't leap to thoughts of over-hyped, mass produced, focus group marketed AAA titles when they think of video gaming worth giving a damn about, but as many of you already well know I do. There's something I really enjoy about the pomp and bombast of a game like Battlefied 3, Skyrim or The Old Republic releasing, and I am anxiously looking forward to that kind of noise again for games like Mass Effect 3, Diablo 3 or Max Payne 3. On a side note, is basically every current game franchise sitting at the number 3 right now?

That said, I've been enjoying my time in some less highly visible games lately. I've been working on improving my scores in Orcs Must Die!, a game I can come back to over and over again and have exactly the same amount of fun. I also went back to Defense Grid to play out some of the levels I'd missed. And, I've been cautiously pleased with the beta for Elemental: Fallen Enchantress, something I think I've already put more time into than the original. There's a long way to go there, but it's much more promising than I expected it to be.

As for this week, King Arthur II: The Role-Playing Wargame looks like the best option if you need something new to play, unless you're a glutton for punishment in which case Victoria II: A House Divided may be your cup of tea.

PC
- King Arthur II: The Role-playing Wargame
- The Sims 3: Master Suite Stuff
- Victoria II: A House Divided
- Oil Rush (download)

Xbox 360
- Puddle (XBLA)
- Quarrel (XBLA)

PS3
- Killzone (PSN)
- Puddle (PSN)
- Scarygirl (PSN)

Wii
- Newton vs the Horde (WiiWare)

Nintendo 3DS
- Flipper 2: Flush the Goldfight (eShop)
- Lola's Alphabet Train (eShop)
- Mutant Mudds (eShop)

Nintendo DS
- Flipper 2: Flush the Goldfight (DSiWare)
- Lola's Alphabet Train (DSiWare)

Comments

I was hoping "Oil Rush" would be like a streamlined Fate of the World, but apparently it's tower defense/RTS.

My slow-as-molasses DSL connection finally downloaded all of Fallen Enchantress... now I just need to convince my toddler to let me play it!

Just a minor nit: A House Divided is an expansion for Victoria 2, not a stand-alone game. And, evidently, I am a glutton for punishment.

Looks like another great week for me to try to make progress in Bastion and/or Vanquish while not being tuckered out from work.

House Divided for me, I enjoy Victoria II

There's something I really enjoy about the pomp and bombast of a game like Battlefied 3, Skyrim or The Old Republic releasing, and I am anxiously looking forward to that kind of noise again

Is it safe to assume that this means you're not playing TOR beyond the first (free) month? Shocking!

{sidetrack}
During the early marketing for TOR, I was actually excited despite my anti-MMO attitude. By the time it released, I had come to my own conclusion that it would basically be Mass Effect with lightsabers and MMO tropes added.
{/sidetrack}

Heh. Cup of Tea. I see what you did there.

Is it safe to assume that this means you're not playing TOR beyond the first (free) month? Shocking!

Nope, it's not.

"Bring on the pain!"

Nothing really seems to be that exciting about 2012 releases -- ME2 left me cold, and I never bothered to finish it, Diablo I/II were fun but also aren't interesting or unique any more, and the art direction of MP3 makes me think it's going to be bland.

However! I'm quite happily playing older stuff: Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising has become a weekly Friday Night event with the same 2 guys via XBL (and oh, man, do I wish that we had a third human to take over that final squadmate), wherein I am gradually sucking my unsuspecting friends into the world of milsims. I just started a new character in Skyrim, with what I think is my final/stable mod list. I'm loving Europa Universalis, and there have been some excellent Men of Honor nights with Goodjers lately.

SWTOR and BF3 round out the list. Who needs new games?

I just finished Rage, Skyrim, and Solatorobo this month, so I'm ready for a new big game as well.

Of course, I'm waiting until January 31st for FF13-2 to be released.

I'm trying to plow through Final Fantasy 3 (DS) while I wait for that game. But I'm finding it not to be very sticky. I play for an hour or two then feel like playing another game. I'm making good progress, but not really enjoying it much. (I'm now in the final few dungeons and about 25 hours into the game, but knowing old FF games, that could take 8-15 hours of grinding to finish the last dungeons.)

Other than that I've been bouncing between games and finding them lacking for a few days. Crysis, Soldiers and Swords, and a few others. I haven't wanted to start playing Assassin's Creed 2 or Red Dead Redemption because I know I have this big game coming up, but none of the lesser games I've tried have been much fun. Maybe I should break out the PSP Go and work on Lunar: SSSC a bit more.

I must say, I'm enjoying the quiet period. Nothing calls out to me, again.

I'm only at about Level 13 in Skyrim, so I've got plenty on my plate for now. I've actually fired up some backlog games recently, including the rather wonderful Tron 2.0 and Prince of Persia 2008.

Also, hate to be "that guy," but it's "cleansing the palate."

Suggestion on this ongoing weekly feature... iOS games.

goman wrote:

Suggestion on this ongoing weekly feature... iOS games.

Sample:

iOS
- Birds vs Pigs
- Fly Fly Rocket Birds
- Jetpack Catapult Birds
- When Pigs Fly?
- Bacon Building Smash
- Falcon Bombers
- Bacon Bombardiers
- Piggy Putt-Putt
- Birdcage Tower Topple
- Ava's Aviary Shootout
- OINK! OINK! OINK!
- Demolition Piglets
- Final Fantasy III

ClockworkHouse wrote:
goman wrote:

Suggestion on this ongoing weekly feature... iOS games.

Sample:

iOS
- Birds vs Pigs
- Fly Fly Rocket Birds
- Jetpack Catapult Birds
- When Pigs Fly?
- Bacon Building Smash
- Falcon Bombers
- Bacon Bombardiers
- Piggy Putt-Putt
- Birdcage Tower Topple
- Ava's Aviary Shootout
- OINK! OINK! OINK!
- Demolition Piglets
- Final Fantasy III

He is terrible editor if he did something like that.

Who is terrible editor?

tboon wrote:

A House Divided has been delayed a week. New date is 2 Feb. :(

You make me sad.

goman wrote:
ClockworkHouse wrote:
goman wrote:

Suggestion on this ongoing weekly feature... iOS games.

...

He is terrible editor if he did something like that.

Naaah, he just made my day with that list

Grimmi Meloni wrote:
goman wrote:
ClockworkHouse wrote:
goman wrote:

Suggestion on this ongoing weekly feature... iOS games.

...

He is terrible editor if he did something like that.

Naaah, he just made my day with that list :)

Yeah I would love iOS games, maybe a smaller list and heavily curated.

If anyone really wants that job, let me know.

Quarrel XBLA! Yay!

I played a lot of this wacky scrabble/Risk hybrid game on my iPhone, the only thing it was missing was multiplayer. Which has apparently been added on the 360. Can't wait to give it a spin.

Quarrel is ADORABLE. Picked it up tonight, played a bit. The whole Risk "territory domination" aspect is a really fun little twist on a word game. Yeah, it does feel like a mobile game, but for five bucks it's totally worth it on XBLA.

SOL: Exodus released on Steam today. Indie space dogfighting awesomeness for $9.99. Game of the week for sure.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Quarrel is ADORABLE. Picked it up tonight, played a bit. The whole Risk "territory domination" aspect is a really fun little twist on a word game. Yeah, it does feel like a mobile game, but for five bucks it's totally worth it on XBLA.

Ironically, it was developed for Xbox first, but the company couldn't raise any money for that (apparently nobody thought a word game would sell to those neanderthal console gamers) so they scrapped those plans and made an iOS version instead. Rumor is that the multiplayer component is coming to the mobile version as well.