Well, a few weeks ago I had a chance to really sit and play on my friend, Roberto DelAmorte's Xbox 360. Ohhhhhhh..... I needed a cigarette once I was done. Really, I'm actually toying with robbing some convenience stores to be able to purchase one.
Lemme tell you what I got to experience. I got to play a few hours of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. I can honestly say it's the crack/cocaine of first person perspective, action based RPG's. So much so that Whitney Houston broke into my friends' home while I was playing it and tried to wrestle the cordless controller from me. But, seriously, I got to create a character, which in of itself was a myriad of insanely intricate choices. Then I played through the "tutorial" portion of the game. This involves breaking out of a castle's prison and escorting the King (voiced by Patrick Stewart) through the sewers of the city as he tries to evade a strange group of robed cultists. The tutorial is so smooth you don't even realize you're playing a tutorial. Other voice acting throughout the game is done by Lord of the Rings/GoldenEye star, Sean Bean and Wonderwoman star, Linda Carter. Pretty geek-a-fied, huh?
I also got to play a bit beyond the introduction of the main story a bit. The scenery and graphics are phenomenal, especially when viewed on a widescreen, HD TV which Roberto has (lucky bastage!). The combat is far better than it's predecessor, Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. The one and only worry I have for this game is the fact that the landscapes don''t seem to have much difference to them as they did in Morrowind. It's all grassy, hilly landscapes. No swamps, no deserts, no odd ancient ruins and not to much variety. Hopefully, if I get more chances to play this game, I will explore more of the insanely vast world that exists in Oblivion. Maybe I'll bribe my friend Roberto into being able to play more. Or maybe I'll sell my body to creepy old men on the internet to be able to buy an Xbox 360 of my own. Hmmmm.... decisions, decisions.
I also got to play quite a bit of Quake IV. The graphics of this first person shooter are pretty spectacular. It plays like many FPS games do. This one actually had a good amount of vehicle driving which you didn't see in the other Quake games. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Lot's of carnage and uber-violence that would turn the stomachs of many of the puritanically elite. Good stuff.
Even though I've been quite impressed with what the Xbox 360 has to offer so far, I do have some concerns about where it's going. Although it's DVD compatible it isn't geared for the upcoming HD DVD or Blue Ray DVD formats. That may hurt it in the long run. There's also the point of the very limited selection of games to play on it. It's been out for at least 6 months and we have less than 20 games for it. C'mon! What's the problem? Get cracking programmers! Where's the beef?
I forgot to mention that a few weeks ago I rented the game Area 51 for the PS2 and found it to be quite disappointing. It follows the cliches of most FPS games as well as being insanely frustrating. There were a lot of cheap shots taken by the AI. I got through most of the game, but completely faltered at a particular unfair and exhaustingly aggravating boss battle.
The only upside to this game was the voice acting by both David Duchoveny (X-Files) and Marilyn Manson (devil worshiping rock star). Otherwise, it was the a complete waste.
Rumor has it that while entertaining, Superman Returns isn't anything that spectacular. Though, geek I am, I'll still go see it.
Last Friday's Dr. Who finale was quite wonderful. The show always has a wonderful way of mezmorizing you with the characters. I don't remember the original series doing that. It was sad to see the current Doctor leave us and only getting a quick glimpse and funny "new teeth" remark from the new Doctor. The guy who plays the new Doctor, David Tennant had a brief role in the last Harry Potter movie as one of Voldermort's evil henchmen. So he's got quite the geek stature.
Very sadly, the actress who plays Rose, Billie Piper, has gotten a case of the "afraid to be typecast" bug from former Dr. Who, Christopher Eccleston, and will leave the series after this upcoming 2nd season (keep in mind that we Americans are a year behind the show which is shown and produced in the UK). Quite a disappointing decision, really. Both her acting and character were not only quite fetching, but also quite enjoyable and grew on us fans.
I'm still puttering around with ideas for my next Call of Cthulhu game, but the players have stagnated on potential dates for the game. C'mon people, let's come up with a date! I'm up for anything! If The Peej can't play, we can bring in the Senior Dr. Von Baverhousen if he wishes. Just, someone, email me. God.... I can't even get my players to email me anymore. Dear god, this blog has indeed become my only home of solace. Sigh... Oh, the life of a geek constantly seeps in loneliness.
Well, I'm off to rob a liquor store. Xbox 360, here I come!
Zangz.
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