What We've Been Up To...

We've been gaming... a lot... probably too much if there is such a thing. I know that Barry has finished Dragon Age: Origins a few time, and Chuck is working on copying that effort. Most of the group has also finished Assassin's Creed 2. I fell behind on that objective because of Brutal Legend and Modern Warfare 2. Chuck and I even dove into Left 4 Dead 2 a little. It's a game we haven't been able to give appropriate attention to, and we hope to remedy that problem as soon as Amazon decides to locate and deliver Barry's copy to him. Below I'll give a few impressions of what I've been playing lately.

Brutal Legend

Brutal Legend was a game I wanted to like. The story is ridiculous, of course, but it's fun and pretty creative. If I hadn't been so late to the Brutal Legend party, the RTS elements would have come as a huge surprise. I used to play a lot of RTS games as a kid on the PC. Consoles can just never get it right, and that remains true in Brutal Legend. The good thing about the RTS battles in the game are also a little bit of its downfall.

In the game you learn guitar solos by finding large statues which teach the solos to you. It's somewhat difficult to tell if this is done by reading the ancient looking text on the statue, magic of some sort, or a combination of the two. Either way, the statues look mean. Some of the solos you learn are attacks, one summons your vehicle... there are even solos that act as debuffs for enemies, buffs for your units, and a couple that help set rally points/call your units to your location.

The RTS battles in the game are referred to as "Stage Battles." This is because you set up a giant stage which acts as a unit generator. The Brutal Legend equivalent of mining or harvesting is setting up merchandise booths to harvest fans. This is where the game kind of forgets the "strategy" element. It's very difficult to select individual units. You have to stand next to them and face them until the "double team" icon shows up in the bottom left corner (the double team function lets you perform super attacks with whatever unit you're facing)... then you hold down Y and issue an order to that unit. It's tedious and can be a real pain in the heat of battle. It seemed like the creators of Brutal Legend understood this... so rather than make unit selection easier, they dumbed down the opponent AI so that you're rarely in any real danger. Most conflicts can be resolved by sending all of your units en masse toward each group of enemies. Even if the enemy manages to destroy one of your merchandise booths (which typically seems to be their primary objective) while you're tied up with another group of baddies, it's typically easy to clean up your current problem, send everybody to the group who took out your merch booth, kill them, and then rebuild. Even with the true spirit of RTS being somewhat stripped by this fact... the battles can still be fun... and there's always something rewarding about DOMINATING your opponent and then over running their stage.

Even with my complaints, Brutal Legend was fun... the side quests are entertaining. The story is funny and doesn't seem to take itself too seriously, even when the story has a serious tone. The voice acting adds to the comedic aspect and features the likes of Jack Black, Ozzy Osbourne, comedians Brian Posehn and David Cross.

Left 4 Dead 2

So far I've only spent a small amount of time with Left 4 Dead 2, however, that time was very enjoyable. I only played with one human teammate, so I can imagine that the experience will only get better. We ran through the first campaign mission, Dead Center, and it took us about two hours. I will say that a lot of that time was spent trying to finish the finale as our AI counterparts didn't exactly get the plan we were trying to execute. I really like the addition of the objective based finally as opposed to the first L4Ds method of "just kill a lot of stuff until help gets here." Dead Center has the survivors collecting gas cans to fill the tank of their escape vehicle.

We tried a few tactics, including splitting up to collect cans, but with two AI teammates we found this often left one of us alone and exposed. The AI teammates tended to stick together and only follow one of the human players. Once a few more people we know get the game (and we're lobbying hard) it should allow strategies to be better fleshed out. The AI isn't without merit though. They often knew the quickest way to reach and revive a downed player and were generous with health packs and pills. Even during our attempts to split up, as soon as Chuck or I went down, the AI would immediately set a course to revive.

I look forward to playing a lot more of this game in the near future.


I'll leave my discussion to those 2 games for now. I'm still in the early parts of Assassin's Creed 2, and Modern Warfare 2 has been beaten to death by any and every site out there. Hopefully I'll have more to report soon from our little gaming world.

Borderthief

AirstrikeRhino: Shit guys, that was awesome... I'll pop a turret and everybody heal up.

Humdinger24: Hey check that out... a purple item on the groud.

FenrisWolf82 has received The Most Badass Gun Ever

AirstrikeRhino: I didn't even get to see the stats on that...

PoopsMagee2112: I like pudding.

FenrisWolf82 has opened a chest
FenrisWolf82 has opened a chest
FenrisWolf82 has opened a chest
FenrisWolf82 has opened a chest
FenrisWolf82 has opened a chest

Humdinger 24: Josh, where the hell are you?

FenrisWolf82 has received Autoheadshot Head Asploder

AirstrikeRhino: Did anybody else even see that drop?

Humdinger24: Oh shit, what the fuck is that coming for us?

[Skag attacks group]


Humdinger24: Shit, we're getting low on health, Ryan, pop that turret.

AirstrikeRhino: It hasn't refreshed from the previous heal... Josh, use yours.

FenrisWolf82 has opened a chest
FenrisWolf82 has opened a chest
FenrisWolf82 has opened a chest
FenrisWolf82 has opened a chest
FenrisWolf82 has opened a chest
FenrisWolf82 has opened a chest

PoopsMagee2112: I like pudding... and health...

Humdinger24: Shit, Josh, what the fuck are you doing?

FenrisWolf82: I'm right here, can't you guys see me shooting that Brute...

AirstrikeRhino: We're fighting a skag!

FenrisWolf82: ... yeah, that's what I said...

Driving Daze

I’ve recently been playing a lot of racing games and I’ve got blurred vision to prove it. The mark of a good racing game is one where I have to remind myself to blink. I’ve played through Dirt 2 and got most of my way through Need For Speed Shift in the past couple of weeks.

Dirt 2 is made by Codemasters who is notorious for long load times similar to that of the Mass Effect elevators. However in this installation, their load times drastically improved. I did install it to my hard drive but it was fast even before that. Dirt 2 has you going all around the world driving every kind of offroad vehicle imaginable. All the car controls are smooth and you can feel how much power you’re giving it when you’re sliding through turns. The scenery is pretty as usual and the dirt and mud effects just as pretty. This game is harder on the brakes. That is, you don’t need to worry about the racing line as long as you’re braking at the right time. Other times you don’t need to worry about the brake at all and hope that physics will do its’ job to keep you alive. The game’s more arcade like than simulation which just lets you care less about your car sometimes. The damage a car can take can be unforgiving and you really want your lights to stay working through some of the night rallycross courses. Overall, I really don’t have anything bad to say about the game. Whether playing online or off, it’s a whole lot of fun.

Need for Speed Shift is a whole different animal. Although the series is headed in the right direction, they still need some work on the playability. A lot of the cars like to sway their back ends and it’s hard for a novice driver to keep the cars going straight. It’s one of those games where you have to buy your car, keep it in your garage, and upgrade its’ individual parts if you want to. There is a slight Forza feel to it but the damage is unrealistic. Once you upgrade the car, it can become too powerful and undriveable. This is a good example of trying to make an arcade and simulation game and getting something in between that is just mediocre. Yes, you have to ease the triggers for braking and accelerating but that doesn’t stop your car’s rear end from sliding. Thankfully you can adjust the downforce but that doesn’t help too much. The idea of the single player is to level up by two methods; precision driving or aggressive driving. You get points for clean passes as well as bumping someone and then passing. This makes the online a joke, filled with drivers who would rather take you out than drive on the road. The upgrading can be pretty enjoyable. You will soon have enough money for any car but the limited garage spaces (which can only be unlocked through leveling up) keep your car buying frenzy in check. The game is $40 now and at this point it’s at most a rental because Forza 3 is coming out in late October.

ODST... Soon.

Tonight's the big night. Halo 3: ODST drops at midnight and I plan to be there. It's been a good long while since I showed up for a midnight release. I believe the last one I attended was with Josh for Halo 2 (Combat Evlovederer?). But tonight, I return to the land of ultimate nerdom that is the midnight launch. I'll be at the Price Plaza Best Buy Location in Katy. I'm hoping to take some pictures and post them tomorrow... which means I'm also hoping for a good crowd to make that possible. Stay tuned... or you know... read this if you stumble across it while trying to look for directions on how to invert your Y axis in whatever game you're playing.

Storm's A'comin.

Well folks, the Holiday season is almost upon us, and it's looking like it's going to be great. I'm not entirely sure what all this talk is about "no games being released"... I feel like I'll already have more than enough to play. Maybe I should even consider finishing up Assassin's Creed before Assassin's Creed 2 hits the shelves... maybe.

All members of The Axis have spent a significant amount of time with Arkham Asylum, and the conclusions about it drawn here are very similar to what you'll read pretty much anywhere right now... that is to say, it's very good. What we can't seem to figure out are the combat challenges. Who are these degenerates scoring high enough to earn the high score medals. Maybe we're not flashy enough... maybe we're just not good enough. Either way, I don't think I have the energy to earn those medals, and I think my friends here are in agreement. However, the game as a whole is a must buy, must play. It been a while since a game has kept me playing that many hours without a break.

I'd say that the game that has me most pumped up at the moment is Halo 3: ODST... I can't even totally understand why myself. I've never been the "fanboy" type when it came to the Halo games. I played them, I enjoyed them. I even spent my fair share of time being called racial slurs by 14 year olds... but I stopped playing Halo 3 about 3 months after the release (and that's a generous estimate). I think what got me most excited about ODST is the new firefight mode... and the moment it hooked me was in Tycho's post over at Penny Arcade. I've become a fan of these non-story co-op modes that seem to be becoming very popular. It started with the Horde Mode in Gears of War 2... I played the SHIT out of that for several months. The best part about it is that if you have a few friends willing to hop in, you don't have to deal with a single 14 year old or racial slur... ok, there are still a lot of racial slurs, but it's from people you know... and sometimes they're even clever! After Gears of War 2 there was Left 4 Dead, which was essentially a Horde Mode all dressed up with a "story." What it really was, was a 4 part Zombie grinder with "get the fuck out of Ryan's way because he will team kill your ass in a heartbeat" written all over it. I blamed all the friendly fire incidents on the fact that I used the old guy... his vision was going to shit. Now, the fun of this non-story co-op trend is coming to Halo... say what you will about the series, or about the community... but there is a lot Bungie has done right when it comes to multiplayer. I'm excited to see what they can do here. Also, and I apologize for making this an after thought, the story sounds pretty interesting. Read this article over at Kotaku for a look into that aspect of the game.

Outside of this we have things like Borderlands, Assassin's Creed 2, Modern Warfare 2, Uncharted 2 all coming to us in the very near future. I know Barry is pretty excited for a few racing games on the horizon... and I believe he picked up a copy of Need For Speed Shift today. I'll try to get him to say a little something about it later. All this, and I didn't even mention Shadow Complex... I'll just say this: Buy It. Play It.

Aight, I'm out!

Email Recap: July 8th

We're way past July 8th, but I'm recapping that day anyway. It was a good day in the ol' email chain... away we gooooooooo!

-We're engineers... and nerds:

Chuck:

I don’t like the way the new HEC-RAS does mixed flow conditions calculations, and the sediment transport utility is… obstinate. Hopefully when the regular release hits (I’ve got mine pre-ordered from the Corps) they’ll have fixed these issues.

Ryan:

The sediment transport utility just thought it was about time to find God and keep the b*stard count down. It was starting to rival Mr. Kemp.

Oh wait, I’m thinking of something else… carry on

You can pre-order design software?

-Barry needs an intervention:

Barry:

Maybe squeeze in a couple games of FIFA...

Chuck:

We need an exorcism.

The POWER of CHRIST COMPELS YOU!!!

Now, we wait until he spins his head 360 degrees and spits pea soup at us. If necessary, we wait until he gets older as an actor, makes bad career choices, and is ultimately still only known as the guy who spun his head around 360 degrees and spit pea soup when he was younger.

-I like Mechs (understatement):

Ryan:

I have no audio on my computer… but there is a video on IGN right now that says “Mechwarrior Project, potential additions to the franchise”

I’m trying to not get excited. I think I just peed a little.

Chuck:

Does your phone notify you anytime the words “Mech”, “Mechwarrior”, or “Battletech” get googled so many times in a day? Or is this part of your daily 2:40 p.m. search-for-mech-news routine?

The Answer is "no", but if anybody can hookup that app for a BlackBerry, I'd be all over it.

-And finally... Barry updates his XBL avatar:

Ryan:

Xbox.com suggests that Barry already played with the avatar editor today.

He’s got some bling.

Barry:

dolla dolla bill yall

Chuck:

C.R.E.A.M. grab the money. Dolla Dolla Bill, Yall!

There you go folks! Have a good one!

DJ Whoo Kid: An Interview

DJ Whoo Kid, one of the stars of 50 Cent: Blood On The Sand has agreed to give Inverted Y Axis and exclusive interview about his experiences during the creation of the game. We join him today at his estate...



IYA: Well DJ Whoo Kid, thanks for talking to us today.

DJ Whoo Kid: YEEEEEAAAHHHH!

IYA: So, where did you guys get the idea for the story in 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand?

DJWK: These buildings have been here for like, hundreds of years.

IYA: Really? This house actually looks quite new.

DJWK: I don't think they like us being here Fiddy!

IYA: Excuse me? We can leave if we need to...

DJWK: It's all clear fiddy!

IYA: So we can stay?

DJWK: YEEEEEAAAAAAHHHH!

IYA: Thanks, let's continue...

DJWK: Get that skrilla!

IYA: I don't even know what that means.

DJWK: That's Whoo Kid Power, baby! YEEEAAAAAHHHH!

IYA: Ok, I'm leaving.

DJWK: Die you muh-fuggin bitch! [draws gun]

[Interviewer runs out of room . Fiddy enters.]

Fiddy: Hey, Whoo Kid... was somebody just here?

DJWK: Let's get that shine Fiddy, YEEEEAAAAHHHH!

Fiddy: You're a fucking idiot...

In The Foreseeable Future...

Poops: Yes, I'd like to cancel my service.

Gamefly: Of course sir, but before you go, may we ask why?

Poops: You sent me Facebreaker, which I took as an act of war and aggression on my great nation.

Gamefly: But, it was in your queue...

Poops: That was a test.

Gamefly: If we offer you a free month, would you be willing to continue service with us?

Poops: I don't negotiate with terrorists.

Gamefly: What if we throw in some pudding?

Poops: Fuck...

Alls fair...

...in love and Uno.

It's interesting, in this day and age with high definition gaming consoles and plasma or LCD tvs, that three guys in three different cities have nothing better to do on a Friday night than to drink heavily and play Uno against and with each other over Xbox Live.

Make no mistake, this is not "Busch League" Uno, this is full contact no holds barred complete with racial slurs Uno. With our diverse group there is plenty to say. Myself being asian, for example, must laugh when Ryan says "Leave it up to Barry to have all the yellow cards..."

46" Samsumg 1080P LCD = $1500
Xbox 360 = $300
Uno 400 Microsoft points ~ $5
Guys Night In = Priceless

Must Be A Cubs Fan

Conan: My name is Conan... I have come from the land of Cimmeria in search of a mighty sorcerer who has stolen my armor and has plagued these lands with a black death. I will destroy all who stand in my way! DIE YOU CUR!!



Uecker: ......... what the hell is that guys problem?