Virtual Adept

Two of my reviews have been posted to GameChronicles. The first one is for 80 Days, an adventure game. I give it 5.7 out of 10. Would have been a lot better if some of the technical glitches had been resolved.

The other review is for the Xbox game, Crime Life: Gang Wars, an “urban violence” game that tries to mimic games like Grand Theft Auto 3. Do not buy it. Please. This is the lowest score I’ve ever given a game, 2.8 out of 10.

I scored some great new gaming goods for Christmas. Here’s a list of my loot:

Nintendo DS Mario Kart Bundle - very cool, have been playing the crap out of it already. It also plays GBA games great and have been playing Golden Sun, a nice RPG for GBA.

Ninja Gaiden Black (Xbox)
Burnout 3: Takedown (Xbox)
Prince of Persia: Warrior Within (PS2)
Dragon Quest VIII (PS2) - can’t wait to start this as soon as I finish my review games
Shining Force Neo (PS2)

What gaming swag did you haul in this year?

Oh and also, I’m stuck in Golden Sun. Does anyone know how to find the thieves’ stash in the inn in Vault? I used Mind Read on the gang and found out they stole the rod, and that it’s hidden in the Inn but I can’t seem to find it.

Two new reviews of mine, up on GameChronicles.

The first one is for the PC first/third person shooter GUN, a wild west hootenanny, yeeeeehaw! I gave it a 9.0. Check the full scoop in my review. This game totally rocks, if you are a western fan at all definitely check it out.

The other review is for the Xbox version of The Sims 2. I didn’t like it much, but I think it is just not my kind of game. Gave it 6.8. Here’s what I had to say about it. One thing is it does look pretty nice on my new HD TV in 720p.

Not much else to say, here’s my Now Playing list:

Just reviewed a new platformer/adventure title called Psychonauts, developed by Tim Shafer (of Lucas Arts fame). This is a great game, I give it 9.2 out of 10, and you don’t want to miss this if you’re looking for unusual games. Here is my review on GameChronicles.

My review of Still Life has been posted up on Game Chronicles.. Bottom line is, if you are an adventure game fan or a fan of psychological horror, you could do worse than picking up this one. My review is for the Xbox version, but from what I can tell the game plays out almost identically on the PC version so grab either one. Game is currently selling for around $20-30 street price. Keep in mind the M rating, it’s there for a reason, this isn’t a kiddie game.

Someone in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg, the Usenet Newsgroup, asked about good RPGs that support multiplayer co-op mode via the internet. I replied in detail, so I figured I would put my reply up on the blog, too.

* The old Baldur’s Gate Original Saga and Baldur’s Gate 2 lets you do this, but since the story is centered around a specific character, it doesn’t play out that great as a co-op game but it is pretty fun that way, especially for a ‘duo’ versus a whole team. you can even assign multiple characters to a single player if you choose, or you can just pick up NPC characters to fill out your party. The BG1+exp goes for around $15 or $20, and BG2 + exp. goes for a little more. Getting somewhat hard to find these now that Interplay is kaput.

* Same for the Icewind Dale Games, minus the ability to pick up NPCs (you’ll want to start with at least 4 characters at the start). Keep in mind that IWD series is much less story oriented than the BG series, which may or may not be to your liking. I actually have an unopened copy of IWD2 for trade/sale. You can probably find both of these games for under $15 each.

* Neverwinter Nights Platinum is a great game to play through with a duo. There’s also limitless content already made with all of the fan-created modules, which some people consider to be the best part about this game. To me the MP for NWN works better than the BG or IWD series, but YMMV. The original game’s story is somewhat lengthy and not as exciting as perhaps BG2, but it’s worth a play IMHO. I’d rank this game my top recommendation, in fact. If you buy NWN, I suggest getting the Platinum version, which includes both of the excellent expansion packs to this game. The Platinum package runs about $35-40.

* Diablo 2 is superb for playing with up to 8 friends over the internet. This is pretty much a hack-n-slash level-up treasure-finder but if you’ve never done it before the story can be pretty fun the first time through. I recommend getting the Battlechest if you go this route, and install the expansion pack straight away from the start. There are a few “mods” for this made by fans which change the gameplay some but most of them do not significantly change the story. You can get the Battlechest for $15-20.

* Dungeon Siege - this game is quite fun multiplayer EXCEPT for the save system which is pretty bad, it requires long chunks of time to play through so that you can make it to the next town or portal, otherwise you won’t feel like you’re making any progress, because monsters respawn and it starts you off back at town each time to resume. Expect a LOT of combat for this game, with a linear story to read as you go along. There are books to tell the backstory of the game world and some side quests but mostly it’s a linear dungeon crawl. There are also quite a few fan-made modules for this game as well. I recommend getting the Legend of Aranna expansion pack which also includes the full game. Asking price is around $20.

Those would be my top picks. Some other RPG games that also offer co-op online play:

• Prince of Qin - Diablo 2 style game set in Mythic China
• Darkstone - another diablo-style game
• Nox - more action/RPG goodness here, requires a bit more twitch skills
• Dungeon Lords - hard to recommend this for online play but it has it
• Sacred - diablo-style game that is supposedly a lot better since patches and expansions have been added from it’s launch last year, but i haven’t played it recently.

If you have an Xbox I can recommend:

• D&D Heroes
• Baldur’s Gate Dark Alliance (also on PS2)

That’s about it for co-op RPGs that do not require a fee to play online. At least, the ones I have actually played. If you want to play any of the above PC games with me, just shoot me a message.

Just wanted to spread the word about a really cool blog for Xbox fans, MajorNelson.com. As a Microsoft employee, he posts stuff about the Xbox and has an RSS feed, and he also does a “podCast” (audio-blog). Listening to his weekly audio blog is a highlight of my week. You can pick up on all kinds of new stuff coming out for the Xbox and Xbox Live using by tuning in here.