Mostly about my amusement
I just completed Crysis 3 (a $5 purchase that got me to buy a new NVidia graphic card…) and was looking for a new game to play. Since I’ve owned every Wolfenstein game that was ever produced this seemed like an easy choice to make.
It’s a 40+ GB download from Steam. Wow.
This game was released on April 30th and my pal Bob let me know. It’s available on Steam how could I not buy it?
I really enjoyed the original version because you had to sneak around and keep relocating. If the enemy in the game found you and you didn’t have time to prepare booby traps then you were toast. There were scenes when it was mass mayhem, but if you played it as all guns and glory then you didn’t get very far.
I’m pretty sure I’m going to disable the X-Ray kill cam. The bullet speeding through the air in bullet time is always cool, but seeing a graphic in the head view of what happens when the bullet hits? I can pass on that level of detail. 🙂
For years I’ve been using the Logitech MX Revolution mouse and it’s gotten long in the tooth. The pointer would stutter, the mouse buttons wouldn’t click, the click would release at the worst time, etc.
I could read the signs and it was time for it to go.
I was leaning towards getting the Performance Mouse MX but I figured I’d give Microsoft a shot and picked up the Touch Mouse. Naturally I got the “artistic” version. Both versions are expensive.
The Touch Mouse is supposed to be the Microsoft version of the Magic Mouse. The materials are nowhere near Apple standards but it’s a good plastic attempt. The ergonomics are acceptable and it’s comfortable to use. I prefer to be able to rest my hand on the mouse and it’s just the right size.
There is just one little drawback. It really only has one physical button so mouse button combinations are not doable. When you want to right mouse click you need to lift your finger off of the left side and there is no middle button. This is not really a problem and I’ve been using the Apple Magic Mouse like this for a long time. By installing AutoHotkey I’ve already started making macros for Apple like mouse-keyboard combinations.
I’m bringing this up for one reason. In FPS games, I frequently press and hold down the right mouse button to zoom into my target while pressing the left button to fire. This is a good strategy while hiding behind cover.
. . .
Okay, that will take some getting used to. I’ve already mapped the right mouse button to the left control in one game and with a little practice I’ll be back to normal. It’s a good thing I haven’t purchased MW3 yet.
Update the very next day: I returned the Microsoft Touch Mouse to Best Buy and picked up the Performance Mouse MX. It’s on sale and the price now matches the Touch Mouse. It was the buttons or lack of buttons that made me do it; this is not a mouse for anyone who plays games.
I now have a game to replace the sniper FPS that I play the most.
The FPS Sniper Elite is one of my favorite all time PC video games. As a World War II American OSS sniper, you crawl around parts of Germany and execute missions. These missions need to be performed covertly and mostly in silence. Unless you got them into a long killing field, simple numerical superiority meant that if a squad of Germans or Russians rushed you (the sniper) then you died.
It even had a follow the bullet camera mode for those really good shots, complete with a range indicator.
The game was great but it was obviously designed for an original XBox in 2005. The graphics are dated and the AI is repetitive. I’ve played it so often that I manage to quickly wipe out the enemies and accomplish the mission.
My buddy and fellow Sniper Elite fan recommend that I get SNIPER: Ghost Warrior. A quick visit to steam and the game was purchased and installed in no time.
It’s got everything I like about Sniper Elite but it’s a 2010 game taking place in South America. The graphics, sound, and missions are great fun. When you die you get to replay the mission and target the bad guys that you missed.
Here’s a scenario I just did. To get to a light house I tried to crawl and make my way to my destination without engaging any enemy troops. After getting shot up and compromising the mission, I realized that troops were paired into 3 groups and I could kill them off without alerting anyone. Once I got to the lighthouse I was able to wrap up the mission.
I’ve only played it for about 2 hours but I really like the game and should have it wrapped up in a couple of days.
It’s nice when you get confirmation of a decision. My old PC refused to boot up when I turned it on this morning. Which is a shame since I downloaded and was almost finished playing the Zombie Island of Dr. Ned.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHHVCOPGBFw
Like other DLC it’s a quick play and I am almost finished. Except for the location and the fact that everyone is Zombie-fied, it’s like the rest of Borderlands. It’s good fun and via Steam it only costs $10.
A few of my friends are suggesting I get MW2 since I am wrapping up my second play through of Borderlands.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDSRdp6Ar3M
Borderlands is a wacky video game that I like even more that Far Cry 2 (the fact that Far Cry 2 crashes ALL THE TIME may have something to do with it). I liked the C0D: MW video game but like all CoD games, it was very episodic and you can’t get very creative with the mission approaches. Also while I have not seen MW2 yet, from what I’ve read the airport scene is a little too intense.
I like to play the good guy in my fantasy FPS so I would probably skip that scene. I’m looking for a more friendly game that I can play around the kids.
Lucky for me L4D2 is out.
I hit level 50 on my Hunter character in Borderlands so after the 2nd playthrough is completed I might buy MW2.
I completed the game Borderlands and I’ve started the second pass through the game. It’s the same as the first time but all of your opponents are juiced up to your level or above. It’s hard for a game publisher to keep the game going. It’s still great fun but I can see this getting too repetitive soon.
Beating the bosses is fun. You meet the boss monster, you die, you run and get leveled up completing other missions. Then you go back and wipe out that boss. I have not gotten to a big boss in the second pass through yet but I expect it to be much the same as the first time.
Wow. While doing my early morning browsing I came across retroCrush. I think me and my brothers took that catalog to the electronics store in the RKO Keith’s theater in Flushing. The store was part of the building and next to the ticket booth up front.
I remember because the Atari games were very cool and we had to save our allowance to buy the console and games. I also remember because that electronics store was crooked and pulled a bait and switch. The ad they had in the newspaper said one thing but when you got their (with a crowd of other kids) they said it was a mistake and they would not honor their own ad.
That was not a bad lesson for a kid to learn and me and my friends went shopping elsewhere. Now a days all my serious purchases are made online but I do like going to stores if only to see the games and other toys in person.
That store is long gone and RKO Keith’s has languished in limbo for 30 years. But visiting retroCRUSH brought back some fun old memories.
That WAS quick. The name of this downloadable (hint: the Reborn part?) content should tell anyone who played the original F.E.A.R. what this was about.
The game play was okay and I hope that Monolith either releases more content. If there is a F.E.A.R.3 then this mini-episode will set things up nicely for the return of the original protagonist.
Now to turn off the lights, crank up the volume and replay F.E.A.R.2.
