Thursday, August 18, 2011

Bioshock 2, I know, late to the party again...

So, Bioshock 2 isnt exactly new, but I just finally got around to playing it after a long summer in D.C.

This game brings back all the fun story line you know from the original game, the plasmids, tonics, but this time your armory is expanded with some interesting new weaponry. Since you are a Big Daddy now, you get the fun attachments on your arm, and they are by no means light armament. You start the game with just your Drill, but soon you come into possession of a Rivet gun, and different types of Ammo. A Heavy Rivet to the face is enough to kill most of the more common enemies (known in the game as Splicers), and if they are wearing a mask you get the added effect of seeing the mask fly across the room as their head pops like a balloon.

Along with the fun of the Rivet gun I greatly enjoyed another of the new weapons, the Spear gun. The Spear gun had 2 types of Ammo that I had fun with. First off was the regular Spear ammo. Nailing one of the common Splicers in the head will send them reeling back, and on to the ground, or if they are near a wall, it literally nails them to the wall by the spear straight through their cranium. I had tons of gorey and gruesome fun pegging Splicers to the walls throughout the game. The second ammo type for the Spear gun is the Rocket Spear. This ammo attaches itself into an enemy, and after 3 seconds explodes, the explosion is enough to remove all 4 limbs from a Splicer, and fun to watch.

Another thing that caught my attention was the change to the look of the Little Sisters. In Bioshock 2 they dont look like sad little zombies anymore, they look more childlike with happier eyes. I was glad to see the children look less creepy, but still creepy enough to belong with the atmosphere. Along with this change, there is a fun addition to the game near the end. You actually get to play, and see through the eyes of a Little Sister. It's very interesting to me because I always wondered why the Little Sisters dont see how terrible things look, or how the place is falling apart. What you dont realize, if you dont think too deeply, is that the children have been mentally conditioned in combination with the ADAM, and the whole of Rapture looks like a shiny Ball to them. Not the round bouncy kind, but the kind of Ball where people are dressed in nice tuxedos and elegant evening dresses. And the "Angels" as they call them do actually look like angels to them. It was interesting to see the world of Rapture through the eyes of a Little Sister.



Over all, the game had some fun new features, new weaponry, and stayed true to the story and atmosphere of the first game. I'd have to give this one a 4/5 on the Brawlking scale. Pick it up if you enjoy good old fashioned FPS games with puzzles, yeah, I forgot to mention that there were some fun puzzles in the game too.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Duke Nukem Forever!

Alright, after 12 years this mythical beast of a vaporware game was finally finished, and I loved it! The amount of pop culture references, and even poking fun at himself, and the game's history make this game instant gold to anyone with a sense of humor. It also packs a good action punch, and drops in some old fashioned FPS style puzzles into the game for good measure. While the game doesnt really feature anything ground breakingly new, it does the original Duke Nukem 3D proud, and brings furious, mind numbing action back in crude style to the masses.

After such a long development (12 years), countless engine changes, and going between 4 or 5 different game studios Duke Nukem Forever has come out on top. This game gets a 5/5 on the Brawlking scale. Sheer hilarity, and action give this game all it needs to stand up to the legacy laid before it.






Friday, August 5, 2011

Age of Conan Unleashed and Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising

Tonight I started a couple monstrous downloads. One, Age of Conan Unleashed, it's been a while since I've played this MMO from one of my favorite game companies, Funcom. I want to take a look, see if the F2P version is different from the P2P version, and what the limitations are, etc.

Next, I am downloading a 3 day trial of Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising. I haven't heard much hype about this game, I've been watching its development for a long time, and it had some interesting concepts. Now I'd like to see if they were implemented well, or at all.

Expect a new post soon!