The Finishing Journal

WELL CRAP!
Finishing – 24 The Game
I have this theory that the Universe is constantly flipping the bird at me. Not just the standard guy in traffic flipping of said bird, but the mean, angry hand with the shaking finger bird. It was all too obvious this week. Apparently, the load and new game screen are identical in 24. I attribute this to time saving in the “development” cycle of the game. With one click, and no big sign flashing “YOU ARE ABOUT TO DELETE YOUR GAME” all that progress through a river of chest high horse crap was gone. I was drug back to the shore, the end of the game was far away again. Well played Universe. Well played.

So, 24 the game. How is the second time? Well, it makes me regret I started this site. On the upside all my tricks I had learned on my first play through are helping me this time. It seems that the best way to play this game is break the “AI”. The best way to do that is run into a fire fight and ignore the cover mechanic. The game has no clue what you are doing. It keeps shooting at where you should be hiding.

I did find the best weapon in the game. A door. A guy was standing on the other side of it shooting at me. Luckily it is made of invincible glass, the on-screen prompt said “press square to kick door”, so I did. The physics in 24 the game are not great. It seems a glass door hitting a 220 pound male will cause him to rocket down a hall at faster than light speeds. It was very Wile E. Coyote. The good news is using my elite JRPG grinding skills, I am almost back to where I was.

Unfortunately.

Finishing – Amnesia: The Dark Decent
I am scared to death of this game. Honestly. Not just when you are writing and you say you are scared just to make a point at how creepy the game is. I was in a room with a monster that you can’t see. It disrupts the water you are in when it moves. It can only hurt you if you are in said water with it. As long as you stand on all sorts of floating desks and boxes, you are golden. Here is the problem, you need to run through the water to get to saftey and pull switches and turn valves. The time between safe places (2 or 3 seconds) will make you need to vomit. I rarely have had my entire body tense up while playing video games. Dead Space, Dead Space 2 and Resident Evil 4 come to mind.

In those games it was maybe once or twice over the span of the entire title. In this small section of Amnesia, it is almost constant. I know it’s a game! A game should not cause me to shake as I run through fake water while a fake monster chases me. Lauging in the face of all that logic, the game makes me shake like a leaf on the most evil wind in history. I get chills when I think of going back into the game. I left the protaginist floating on a box while the monster slowly circled. I could not go on. I COULD NOT GO ON. How messed up is that?

Finishing – Alien Hominid
As any father who games can tell you, a quiet house is a gift. Much like a sleeping bear, you don’t ever poke it in fears it make change it’s current state in a furious rage. I found myself with everyone asleep the other day. Naturally, I would work on 24. But, I have to unplug the PS2 controller when it’s not in use. The kids think those wire things are so much fun!

So, I had my Xbox 360 control. I scrolled through my library. I think I got Alien Hominid free somehow. I don’t really remember. I do know I didn’t even play it after downloading it. It was months after when I tried it for the first time. It’s by the guys who made Castle Crashers (PLAY THAT!) and is a really fun game. But it is not an easy game. It’s like an old school arcade game that is designed to drain your pockets of quarters. It’s a slice of heaven. I got to play it for quite some time. This is one I plan on revisiting often. I made it half way though.

He is Batman
Remember when I said that I was working on some art for a birthday party? Well, we went to the party. It was a good time. If you like chicken wings, then you wish you were there. They were awesome! By awesome I mean my mouth touched heaven. I was talking with a fellow party goer about fathering kids, Alien, and Watchmen. It was a good chat. He publishes audio books on his site. What? Link? Okay! His review of “The Vow” makes his site very legit.

While I was sitting watching the kids play, my daughter ran up to his daughter. She was in a toy jeep. My daughter yanked open the door and “helped” her out of the vehical. She then got in and rode away. The entire time she was holding a toy gun. You (and I) may be questioning my parenting at the moment, but I think I found out who is reviewing the new Grand Theft Auto for me.

It was an awesome party. It all took place outdoors. I hate being outdoors. So for me to have fun outdoors you know it had to be awesome. Thanks to those who threw the party, and thanks to the birthday boy for having said birthday.

Well, off to play some games.
Donald-

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