Portal 2 and other stuff

 Portal 2 on the mind 

Finally…a Game of the Year candidate!!! This year has already seen a good deal of very good games come out, but it wasn’t until last Tuesday that we finally got our first “GREAT” game. Portal 2 is nothing short of amazing. The game play is as refined as any game on the market, the visual are top notch and the story is compelling (even better if you played the 1st one). What really makes this game as memorable as it is are the characters, both of which are AI. Stephen Merchant and Ellen McLain are money as Wheatley and GlaDOS. The dialog is some of the funniest I have seen in a game. One part in particular comes to mind; Wheatley is guiding your character (Chell) through an area that is dark and needs to turn on his flashlight…

Wheatley: [Wheatley leads Chell through a dark area of the facility] Ah, brilliant! You made it through! Well done. Okay, follow me. We've still got work to do. At least she can't touch us back here. 
[lights in the room start to go off one by one] 
Wheatley: What's that thing? Um... Hmm. Okay. 
[it is now pitch black] 
Wheatley: Okay, uh... Don't move. Okay, all right. So, I've got an idea, but it is bloody dangerous. Here we go. 
[he turns his flashlight on] 
Wheatley: AAAAH! 
[looks around] 
Wheatley: Oh, for God's sake... They told me that if I ever turned this flashlight on, I would die! They told me that about everything! I don't even know why they bother giving me this stuff if they didn't want me to use it; it's pointless! Mad! 

There are examples of this throughout the entire game. I would definitely suggest turning on the subtitles to makes sure you catch these. They are worth the price of the game. One more…

GLaDOS: Most people emerge from suspension terribly undernourished. I want to congratulate you on beating the odds and somehow managing to put on a few pounds

I actually can’t stop thinking about Portal 2. Everywhere I go I think of ways I could use the Portal gun to make my life much easier. Annoying lady talking on the phone…() shoots portal into fountain….() shoots portal under annoying lady. A portal gun could solve so many problems. “We have a leak!” () Shoots portal outside…() shoots portal under leak. Travel is obvious, but could you imagine moving…()shoots portal at living room wall…() shoots portal in living room of new home. Of all the things we see in gaming, this is the one I want most. All other items pale in comparison. 

Dungeon crawling at its finest

Besides the brilliance of Portal 2 I have been occupying my time with Torchlight. A wildly addicting dungeon crawler in the spirit of Diablo. There is a story, but no one really cares about the story….it all about the loot! When you start to play and explore the dungeon the one thing you want to find is the next great weapon or armor. This really doesn’t kick n until after level 20 when the drops become significantly more rewarding (epic and unique weapons with awesome effects). This is easily one of the best games for download on the marketplace.

Would someone please tell DICE and EA to shut up about Battlefield 3

Is anyone getting a little annoyed by the shear volume of news and information coming out of the Battlefield 3 hype machine? I know DICE and EA are doing everything in their power to knock off Call of Duty as the top FPS franchise, but enough is enough. It will look great, feature a good story and have a deep multiplayer, but overall how much different is it going to be compared to the other 50 FPS games that have came out in the last year? You shoot, kill people, get XP, level up, upgrade your load outs and repeat. Same game just a different skin. It’s just a shame that games like this (which over saturate the market) get so much press. They are tiresome and repetitive. IF the game is successful, will it be because of the game itself or the advertising?