Portal 2 and Castlevania DLC

Yesterday, Portal 2 showed up.  I got up to chapter 3, it was a fairly good time.  Typical Valve quality - great scripting, great gameplay, mediocre graphics, awful textures.  I couldn't get drawn into it enough to keep going, despite forming some sort of unholy geek crush on GLaDOS.  I noticed that the Castlevania Reverie DLC has finally been released.  Seeing as I got the game on the cheap for $20, I didn't feel bad paying $10 for the DLC.  First thing I noticed was the art style changed - they're doing more motion anime in the cut scenes.  I'm sure this is a resources/space issue for DLC, but it was a drag to start the DLC, as it doesn't keep up with the core game's art presentation.  As far as the DLC, it's okay.  It continues on the Castlevania LoS story.  I have a couple gripes with the second section of the chapter.  First, there are these leviathans that are insta death, and you have to sprint across water to avoid them.  Next, there's a rather lengthy blade wall, and you need to control the speed of the blades.  I got through the first 2 parts of the chapter, and have the third to go.  My main problem with the DLC is the timing.  It's been so long that I didn't remember many of the controls.  The game essentially throws you into a fairly good sized battle in the first bit, and I was just button mashing while the control scheme came back to me.  This is a common problem to single player-centric games.  You finish up and then 2 months later, they put out some DLC and expect you to remember every nuance about the controller from the get-go.  Perhaps they should start out rather basic, so you can fumble around and re-learn what you've missed. 

I think it's fairly obvious that I'm still in my gaming funk.  I'm somewhat interested in picking up Socom 4.  Operation Flashpoint: Red River is catching my eye.  I like the tactical aspects of Operation Flashpoint, but sadly, never really gave Dragon Rising a fair chance (I was playing co-op with a guy who hated it).  4 playerer co-op and no run of the mill multiplayer sounds pretty good to me.

Mark Ingram will be the cover athlete for NCAA 12.  Good for him.  Last Bama player to get it was Shuan Alexander who won the MVP.  I think the fact that EA didn't even put Cam up for the vote speaks volumes of the national perception of that situation.