Haunted house of cards

So last week after playing some "Halo Wars", I decided to finally start playing "Grand Theft Auto 4".  I had bought the game a few weeks ago, a few days before jumping feet first into the"Halo" universe.  I really enjoyed "Grand Theft Auto 3" on the PS2, and had heard and read a lot about "GTA 4", and everything pointed to this being another great addition to the "GTA" universe.  After playing it for a few days, and enjoying it, I decided to download demos of two games that some friends of mine turned me on to. 

The first game I tried was called "Carcassone".  It's a strategy game based on an old board game.  My friend Leo told me about this game, and the demo was fun.  It took me a couple tries to get the hang of the game, and unfortunately the demo was kind of limited.  At some point I think I'm gonna have to buy it.  The other game I tried out, eventually downloaded, and bought the full version of, and have been playing virtually all this week is "Magic: the Gathering: Duel of the Planeswalkers".  Before I talk about the game, I feel I should give a little background info.  I used to play the card game a lot.  There used to be a HobbyTown USA store in my area, and me and a bunch of friends of mine used to go and play every week for a few hours, and many times would even go to each others houses to play.  In fact, my friend Brian is the one who told me about this game, and he was pretty much the one who taught me how to be a better M:tG player.

So fast forward to me and my 360.  This game is a lot of fun, and they did a really good job recreating the card playing experience.  They even gave you access to a few really good decks, along with unlocking more cards for each deck as you win matches against the AI player.  One thing about the AI players is that the ones later on in the single player game can pose a pretty decent challenge.  I was actually pretty impressed by this.  But there is one huge drawback to this game.  In the actual card game, decks are usually constructed using a total of 60 cards.  In the 360 game,  you are very limited to how you can construct a deck.  A lot of the matches I am playing with a deck totaling 70 cards or more.  Not only that, the only cards you can add or remove from a given deck, are the ones you unlock, even if some of the cards in the decks they give you kind of suck.  And the bad part about this, is that a lot of the cards you unlock are actually quite good, so you really don't want to play without them.  But other then that rather major drawback, I really enjoy this game so far, and not even close yet to unlocking all the cards for every available deck.

Earlier today, my wife and I went to see "Paranormal Activity".  I was very surprised that this movie came to my area, seeing as how I live in a smaller area.  When I first heard about this movie, and the strategy they were using to release it, I was pretty much resigned to the fact that I would have to wait for it to come on DVD.  But word of mouth for this movie was so strong that it pushed itself into a nationwide release.  This was a really good movie, filmed in much the same style as "Blair Witch Project", "Cloverfield" and "Quarrentine".  Very fitting that they release such a good ghost story the night before Halloween.  I highly recommend that if you want to have a few moments that make you jump, go see this movie.

So all precincts are in......

Work was kind to me today and I was able to go see "Saw VI" like I had hoped to this morning.  Let me start this by saying there will not be any spoilers about the movie, so this will most likely be a short update.  The movie was really good.  This one was similar to the last 2 movies in that a portion of the film was told through flashbacks, to tie the movies and the total storyline together and "Saw VI" accomplished this well.  They tied up just about every lose end that the previous films had left us, which leads me to my only gripe.  While every plot line was finished, they did unfortunately leave a small opening at the end of this one for a "Saw" movie next year.  I really hope that the series is done.  If they do in fact release a new "Saw" next year, they are gonna be doing the series a disservice. Hopefully the people at Lionsgate know when to call it a day with the series.  I'd hate to see this go the same way as the "Friday the 13th" movies and just become a joke.  The "Saw" series deserves better.

A tradition unlike any other......or not.

Well today marks year number 6 of a tradition that I have come to look forward to every year.  What is this tradition you may ask?  Today is the opening of "Saw VI".  Ever since the first one came out, I have made a point of going to see the new one the day of release every year.  Don't ask me why.  I don't really have an answer as to why.  I will be honest.  While I do enjoy the "Saw" movies, they really need to end the series with either this movie or with the possible release of "Saw VII".  I haven't done any looking into another "Saw" movie release for next year so they might already be planning another movie for next year.  But the series does need to end soon.  One thing that keeps me curious about the new "Saw" movies is how they keep the "Jigsaw" storyline going with him long dead.  I also enjoy the flashbacks into his life they have had in the recent movies, going more into his life before "Jigsaw" and the events that pushed him to his breaking point. 

So, after work today, I will be in the theater, pop and Crispy Critters in hand looking forward to see what "Jigsaw" and company come up with next.  Hopefully the movie can meet my expectations.  Those expectations being just not to suck too bad.

Beyonce would be proud

So I went shopping last week with the family, and I finally became the last person on the entire planet I believe, to take the "Halo" plunge.  Now granted, this isn't the first "Halo" game that I have, since I've had "Halo Wars" since it came out.  I am more referring to the single-player shooter games.  Well, it's been 8 days since that shopping trip and I have played through the main trilogy, leaving me only "Halo 3: ODST" to finish on the single player side.

This group of games has been widely considered as some of the best games ever created for any system.  I had always thought that this hype was a bit much and couldn't understand what all the hype was about.  I mean, could a trilogy of games actually be this good?  Well, after playing through the single player campaign of all three games, I can honestly say the hype might not have lived up to the game.  These first-person shooters have everything you could want in a superb game. The storyline that is stretched over the could have been pulled right from a $400 million dollar Hollywood blockbuster.  The graphics were phenomenal.  The gameplay was some of the best in any shooter I have ever played.  These games had some of the most intense moments I've ever had while playing a shooter.  They really did a great job drawing you into the war you were a part of in the series.  And Bungie (the people behind the "Halo" series) really did an awesome job with the parts of the game involving all the different vehicles you had a chance to use throughout the series.

I really can't say enough about these games other then I wish I would have played them sooner.  I know from now on, I will be there front and center buying whatever "Halo" games are released from here on out.  Now if only I didn't have to work so I could start "Halo 3: ODST".

Apologies

Yeah it's been a little too long since my last update, I know, and I apologize about that.  I place complete blame on Commander Shepard and the rest of the crew of the Normandy.  For those of you that don't know, Shepard is the main character in "Mass Effect" and the Normandy is his ship.  I had yesterday off of work, which was good timing, since I got to the point where I was able to beat the game yesterday afternoon.  I really can't say enough about this game.  Maybe it was a little shorter then I liked, but I still managed to get almost 50 hours of gameplay out of it, and that was with completing every side quest I had access to.

Before I get to what what made this game an all-time classic, I have one complaint.  The inventory system was kinda tedious.  Whenever you tried to sell off some of your old or duplicate equipment you had to scroll through the entire menu.  And when you can hold up to 150 items, that can take a while.  But considering the rest of the game, that complaint is just a pebble on the beach.  What a game.  The story could have been pulled right from a Hollywood movie, and with some of the voice actors they had on "Mass Effect" it basically was a movie.  A couple of the voices I was pretty sure I recognized right off the bat with Seth Green and Keith David voicing two of the characters.  What surprised me when I read the credits is who some of the other actors they had on the game, most notably Marina Sirtis of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" fame, and Lance Henriksen who has been in a ton of movies.  But what a story it was.

One thing I remember hearing about this game was Fox News having a problem with this game, and while I don't remember the complete news story and I don't have time to look it up, it had something to with a naked alien.  After playing through the game and getting to see what the fuss was about, all I have to say is seriously?  That was it?  You see more skin on prime time television and that is free of charge. This is something that has an "M" rating so you need to be 17 to purchase it anyway.  So Fox News needs to get a grip.

I did start a second playthrough already, mainly so I can hit the level cap.  You get capped at level 50 the first time you play through the game, and that gets bumped up to 60 on your second palythrough.  There are also some other things I want to do, most notably being a jerk, and maxing my "Renegade" points.  On the first playthrough, I maxed my "Paragon" points, which means I was a good guy.  The "Renegade" points mean I will be a big jerk at times.

Time for work, but if you read this blog and like games like this, go out and buy "Mass Effect" today.  I promise you won't be disappointed.

Amazing

As I said, if I had Tuesday off of work, I was going to start up "Mass Effect".  Well, I did indeed have Tuesday off, and after laying an early morning game of "Madden" that ended up freezing up before I could save, I erased my old game save and started up "Mass Effect".  This game is amazing.  I could toss every superlative at this game but that would just be boring.  The main storyline of this game is playing out like a sci-fi movie, the cutscenes are really good, and the fact that every conversation that you can carry out with the NPCs in the game are all voice acted only adds to the depth of the story.  The music in this game literally rocks, and does so much to immerse you in the "Mass Effect" universe.  To be honest, I am not all too sure how far into the main story I am, but I am spending a lot of time doing side missions now, and exploring a lot of the other star systems not involved in the main storyline.  But all I can really say is I wish I would have started this game a long time ago, and now I really can't wait until "Mass Effect 2" comes out next year.