"Reach"-ing for Something to Write

Snoop Dogg vs LL Cool J: The Ultimate Halo Smack Down from LL Cool J


I love that video. I have feeling a few of my gamer friends would do the same thing if they had the money.


Since last Tuesday I've been making an effort to get in some time on Halo: Reach. I didn't play Halo: ODST much when it came out and by the time I did get on people were pretty much over it. But I like Reach as much as I can like a  game from the Halo franchise.

Screenshot courtesy http://www.bungie.net

You see, I suck at Halo. The first Halo for the X-Box was one of the first shooters I played so I was absolutely terrible at it. I thought with having a little more shooter experience, I would be better at Halo 2 ... but there wasn't much improvement. When Halo 3 came out I'd had shooter experience with Star Wars Battlefront, Gears of War and Call of Duty so I thought I would for sure do well. Alas, I still was pretty bad. Better than the first two but still bad.


I don't know what it is about the franchise, I just royally suck at Halo. You can see how much right here. (Note: There are some good stats from when Ben played on my account)


I still have a good time though. I enjoy the game and the story line so I like Reach - I'm just not very good. I'm lucky my gamer friends online are, or I'd probably never play. Online, I tend to be our handicap and/or bait ... funny, but sadly true.


I haven't bought my copy and have been using my brother's so I haven't beaten the game yet but it is pretty good so far. I'm especially impressed with the backgrounds. The maps are HUGE and distractingly pretty to look at. Bungie did a fantastic job with the Reach planet. I get lost in the big maps but haven't minded too much as I usually enjoy the surroundings (and lack of people killing me) enough that I can't complain.


Tonight I'm headed to Andre Ethier Fleece Blanket night at Dodgers Stadium! I'm excited to get my blanket! The season may not have been what we'd hoped for but I still love going to Dodger games. I'll be sad when baseball season is over.


That's all for today I believe.


'Nuff said,
Crysania

Gamer Nerd

So I'm kind of a nerd for video games.

More or less I'm just a bit more than a casual gamer - meaning I mostly play shooters and prefer to play online rather than go through campaign modes. But sometimes I get a little hardocre and play different types of games.

I've played a couple MMOs, love fighting games (I have played every Dead or Alive game that's been released) and some hack and slash campaign games (also played nearly every Dynasty Warriors) but the genre I struggle with is the single player RPG. I just get bored.

I've played part of a few Final Fantasy games (never finished one) and tried some others, but most of the time I just can't finish - I just watch my brother to get the endings. Really, the list of RPGs I've completed is so small I can mention it here: Chrono Cross (PS), Jade Empire (X-box), Kingdom Hearts 1 (PS 2 ... I did not fight the final boss in KH 2), my favorites were Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2 (x-box and x-box 360) and a game that I think was called Deamland (x-box 360) that was really short ... I also finished Ninja Gaiden 2 but I don't think that really counts in the RPG genre.

That makes ... 7 RPGs, if Ninja Gaiden 2 counts ... and many half/quarter/and nearly finished casualties on the way. Trust me, we don't want to list the games I haven't finished.

So when my brother suggested I play Dragon Age: Origins I was skeptical. The last 2 he suggested (Fable and Mass Effect) were popular, but, once again, couldn't hold my attention.

His tactic for getting me to play was to tell that the game play and story options were more like the Knights of the Old Republic games. So I tried it.

And I loved it.

The game is good. Each little decision affected something I did. One time I said one thing and had to fight, like, 20 people and died but the next time I said one thing differently and only had to fight one guy. The character design was the best out of nearly any RPG I've ever tried. I mean usually they all tell you your character is pretty but in this game, my character actually was pretty! Customization was easy too, and there was so much left to do (or mini quests that I failed) I feel like I have need to go ahead and play the game again.

I was determined to finish this game and it was totally worth it. There were a couple times (like the length and tedious tasks in Orzammar) that I had to push myself to not get bored but the story line was good enough that it didn't take as much effort as I thought it would. Although, the game play itself and the interaction with your party is definitely the strongest point of the game

The game is entertaining and your party members have good personalities. It's well written with very few holes and just a good game. It's long ... really long, like most good RPGs but the experience is generally a good one. My only frustration was how to fight the arch demon (the boring way is sooo much easier!).

So if you are looking for a good RPG, I recommend Dragon Age: Origins ... especially with the expansion coming out soon!

There we go, my first video game review blog. I know RPGs aren't my strong suit but as an RPG noob I hope I got it right.

'Nuff Said,
Crysania