Return to Dark Castle

I suspect that if you didn't play the originals on the old Macs, you wouldn't be interested, but I'm having fun. And getting frustrated, and having fun...

I just ordered Armored Core 4 for the PS3, got it for $16 shipped, so I figured I'd not be out anything if I don't like it.

What I'm really looking for is a modern game with some sort of strategic battling (not so much real-time or shooter style if possible) with hugely customizable units. I really liked the original Masters of Orion, but would like something with a little more flash.

I seen a commercial for Bioshock 2! I want to play you!

A well done commercial at that...it'll be soon!

Playing “Fallout 3” today. So far I’m not as impressed I’d hoped. I’m not sure if I’m just not really in the mood for learning a new game right now and/or it’s the game it self. Surprising because I got hooked on “Elder Scrolls Oblivion” quickly though closing the gates does become tedious after a while.

First, I hate having to go through a mandatory character generation tutorial. While I can stomach it once (barely) please just give me a way to skip it after that or preferably from the start besides saving at the last minute.

Second, I thought I would really like the V.A.T.S. system but so far it sucks. I’ve always hated cut scenes in games because it takes me out of the game ruining the immersion. I was hoping it would take the twitch-fest out of the game but for close in combat it’s just cumbersome to use and disorienting to look at. Well at least you’re not forced to use it. Maybe it will fare better with longer ranged combat.

I’m also a bit bummed that the picture is so subdued looking. I have an awesome video display which brought the colours in “Oblivion,” and “Bioshock” to life and here I get lots of gray landscape and monochrome computer monitors. “Oblivion” lets me see my character when I’m equipping but here I get little monochrome images and rather than seeing what the character has on I get to scroll through lists looking for filled in checkboxes.

So far the audio doesn’t seem all that good either compared to “Oblivion” or “Mass Effect” though I’ve only done limited exploring so far.

As for the main quest so far? Well, dad went on walkabout, big deal.

And let’s not forget the bugs. Already got trapped between a rock and a building. Luckily I’d discovered another location and could fast travel out. The other bug was a game freeze when opening a door. Had to reboot the machine and start from a previous save. Now I’m not saying “Oblivion” didn’t have some bugs, but I think I only have had about 5 show stoppers in hundreds of hours of game play while I’ve already had one and what could have been another had I not been able to “teleport” out in only a few hours.

Hopefully I can stick with this long enough for it to become more interesting but it’s not looking good so far.

I like the combat better and find the overall game much more polished over Obvlivion especially when it comes to load times. Oblivion was a much deeper game though (more side quests). I have to admit I enjoyed the heck out of Fallout 3. Suprised to hear your comment about the audio, I found the audio to be excellent, if not amazing.

BTW with Oblivion and Fallout 3, if you have the Xbox 360 versions you might want to clear the systems cache. You shouldn't have problems with this game freezing.

I enjoyed Fallout 3, but not NEARLY as much as oblivion. I agree with just about every that you said grunt. Wandering the country side in oblivion was a blast... but in fallout it is just plain boring.

Played some Wii Pub Darts with my son this morning. Pretty well done.

Is it license to serve Guinness? If so, it might be time for me to upgrade my Ps3 to Wii!

I could never get into Oblivion. As much as I hate to say it, I just enjoy games on rails too much. Open games, esp with side quests just frustrate me--I'm always afraid I'm missing something really important if I skip them, and then I get bogged down.