Goombd Played! - The Walking Dead Episode 3: Long Road Ahead

There's much to think about now that I am just done playing through The Walking Dead's third episode, Long Road Ahead. Things that I was worried about after finishing episode two are still present, like the doubts of whether or not my choices really matter in the plot as a whole. 

Episode three throws in some tough situations for you to handle and others that are mostly out of your direct control. Regardless of how I feel the story progression is going, there's no denying that this series is one of Telltale Games best so far, and that's saying a lot.

We pick things back up with our cast of survivors a few weeks or possibly months after the events of the previous chapter. Winter is coming and with supplies dwindling, Lee and co. are forced into scavenging the surrounding town of Macon, in the hopes of having enough to last through the tough times ahead. 

From the title of this episode, though, there's not much to spoil in regards to where things move on to. And considering this is The Walking Dead, a game in a franchise known for violently changing up the outlook for characters and situations they are put in, you can expect to once again face some tough situations. 

Long Road Ahead obviously plays just like previous episodes but there's an added element of very very simple point and click gun play in small sections of the game. You basically point the cursor at the immediate area of what you want to shoot and the shot is made for you. The only real challenge is finding out the correct order you have to do so, and how quickly you do it. As a very skilled player, I managed to fail these segments a couple of times. For the regular player, though, they should be easy enough to handle and don't really take much away from the point and click, adventure game nature The Walking Dead.

Three episodes are now behind us and the collection of choices we made are neatly saved and remembered by the game. The "tailored story", as claimed by the developers, must be getting pretty complex, which makes me curious and anxious to get to see all choice permutations and their consequences once the season is over. It goes without saying that I for one cannot wait to see this game through and I have the slight feeling I am not the only one. |9

Goombd Played! - Gungnir

The saying goes that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. In Gungnir's case, Atlus' newest grid based J-RPG, being beautiful only takes it so far. 

Unlike the usual Japanese role playing game, Gungnir doesn't sport a particularly convoluted plot. Two factions are at each other's throats, one being the lower class, suffering in the slums and in poverty, while the other, the rich folks. Guess which side the heroic Esperanza guerrilla group stands and you've got yourself into Gungnir's story in a nutshell.

Similarly to INS' hugely popular RPG series Disgaea, Gungnir's combat system is entirely grid-based, with the same options of equipping characters and somewhat customizing their abilities to your taste. If you've played any tactical game released in the last fifteen years, among them greats like Tactics Ogre and the newer Joan D'Arc, you will know what to expect. While not close to being boring in this regard, Gungnir does little to set itself apart. Battles play out as you'd expect and very rarely stray out of the realm of the 'rock-paper-scissors' formula of planning out attack turns. Even on boss fights.

As I briefly touched earlier on, this game's plot is a little uninspired and boring. Unlike previous attempts at tactical RPGs that were mentioned before, there are hardly any redeeming points in this tale of the plight of poverty, and what's even worse, the little there are in attempts at development fall flat. All thanks to the limited scope of dialogue choices that very rarely go past the clichéd and tired stoic "dying for what it's right" stance, all throughout the game. There's not even a drop of the much expected animé humor thrown in and granted, that's a huge cliché in this sort of game but hey... it would've helped in this case.

On the other hand, I can't help but applaud Gungnir's visual design. At a certain point during my playthrough, I decided to pay more attention to the colorful art than anything else. Gungnir is absolutely gorgeous. Its mix of beautifuly textured polygonal environments and detailed sprite work is easily this game's most distinguinshing feature.

There is a handful of tactical RPGs out there already that do what Gungnir tries to do with much better results, not only story-wise, but in gameplay. That's not to say Gungnir is completely awful and if you manage to turn yourself off from the pinky toe level shallowness of its plot and focus on just winning battles, it works. But that's what holds it back, potential players having better options already available on the same portable system. Gungnir does little to nothing to set itself apart from the bunch and that's what kills it. |6

Goombd Played! - Diablo III

 Click click click *LOOT!* click click. This is what comes to my mind when I think about Diablo. It's never about the horrible demons crawling their way out of hell or how dark and gloomy everything seems to be all over. Clicking tirelessly. I'll cut my sad attempt at a dramatic interpretation for this write-up. Yes, Diablo III is here and it's once again completely insane.

The remaining demons are back, looking for revenge at humanity. Diablo is still dead, but if he wasn't coming back, this game wouldn't be named Diablo III, now would it? Surely, they have something in mind and are after relics that will help resurrect the prime evil. It will be up to a hero or two to save the day, whether they are a monk, demon hunter, witch doctor or barbarian.

Much like previous Diablo games, Diablo III plays very differently depending on which class you choose to play as. Going even deeper, each of these character archetypes offers their own branching paths in terms of setting up skill runes. New runes become available every time you level up. You don't have direct control as to where the skill points go into your character attributes, but you do get the choice as to which rune you get to use. There are many variations you can take a character in, and they're completely interchangeable on the fly, depending on the situation you are facing. For instance, a monk can be an area of effect (AOE) powerhouse, taking down huge groups of enemies in a confined space, or they can act as a healer for a group of players.

Gameplay is pretty much like previous games, you are still spending the majority of your time clicking away like a mad person, although there are quite a few keyboard shortcuts to use for your special powers. Powers can be assigned to a few number keys and can be further tweaked once you activate what's called elective mode. This mode lets you combine powers that happen to be in the same school in order to further customize your character, breaking from the mold of only using one type of ability or spell if you so wish. This mix and match system breathes some new life in what could become a tired quest of quick or prolonged clicks, giving you the chance to change your character as the situation calls, or if you are looking for something new.

Grouping up is a huge part of Diablo III. Creating a nice mix of classes is paramount in order to beat the game at higher difficulty settings. Diablo III is setup in a way that pushes you into playing in groups online, by taking cues from previous Blizzard games like World of WarCraft. Every player gets their own loot drops, and the significant equipment upgrades are only found the higher the difficulty you play, which works as the endgame content, the oh so high ceiling of "grinding" for loot.

 

Loot plays a big role in Diablo III, both in terms of character progression and how you will make it through the game as you replay it in higher difficulties.Multiple playthroughs are a must if you ever wish to reach the level cap and have access to better equipment, but they aren't your only avenue to obtaining shiny new stuff. Much like WoW, Diablo III offers on online auction house where players can throw down unwanted items for in game gold or even real money. And like 'WarCraft, the better the item, the more inflated the prices tend to get. If you are unlucky as me in your item drops, you'll have to turn to this service, which can serve both as a blessing or a curse, depending on what you are in the virtual market for.

Regardless of being a seasoned dungeon hacker or a newbie, there's no denying that Diablo III looks gorgeous. Every act in this game looks and feels completely different, whether you are treading the desert or hacking away in a lush forest. Enemies are also varied, much more than previous games, they go beyond simple color palettes although there are exceptions to this rule when you run into elite versions of some monsters. These are sometimes even stronger than actual bosses, but are worth killing if you are after the better loot drops.

Diablo III ran into some shaky grounds upon its release thanks to the form of online activation Blizzard is implementing. It that demands a constant internet connection and for weeks after the game was released, it was regularly offline, keeping players away from the game, even in single player. There are still some issues now, but Blizzard promises to iron out the remaining bugs as the game gets further patched in the future.

If any of Blizzard's games is an indication of the longevity of Diablo III's lifespan, you can certainly look forward to a lot more content to kill your way through after you are boot next to boot on top of Diablo's corpse. The already implemented and aforementioned loot "grind" is there as a wall for the endgame and only a very, very naive player would expect Blizzard and Activision to be done with the game as it is. Diablo II is still getting patched and tweaked now, more than ten years after its release, after all. Considering how different of games both StarCraft 2 and World of WarCraft got turned to post release, you can expect to keep playing Diablo III for a long damn while. |9

Goombd Played! - The Walking Dead Episode 2: Starved for Help

It's all going south as soon as 'The Walking Dead' episode 2, titled "Starved for Help" opens. We find Lee and the group three months after the events of the first episode, after having found the motel and made an improvised settlement out of it. Much expected tension is brewing from within the group in regards to leadership and everyone can agree that that should be the least of their worries: they're hungry and supplies are running dangerously low.

Human drama is one of the best developed aspects of 'The Walking Dead', in both comic and TV show form, so it's no surprise that this episode of the game series revolves around it. Granted, some of the story bits turn out to be fairly predictable and clichéd, with how quickly some revelations are made and how some characters' behaviors change so suddenly.

Behavior change is one of the reasons that got me worried about the game while playing this episode. At E3, Telltale went on to mention how deeply your decisions would affect the story and events in future episodes, and Starved for Help already starts rolling out consequences about things you've said and reacted to in the premiere episode. Those particular spots seemed really out of place in my relationship to one particular character, considering how I've been treating that person since the beginning. Their change in behavior was radical and completely opposite to what I had been building by my actions and dialogue choices. This change revolved around the only time I went partially against that person's point of view in the previous episode.

I'm curious to see how far this change will go, although considering how other inconsistencies go, it might have been scripted from the beginning. Other events during this episode make it seem like your choices only affect small elements of the plot. Case in point, the E3 demo I watched which took place right at the start of the episode - someone is rescued and something happens to them a little while later. In my playthrough, I rescued someone else and later on, the same thing happened to them, in the same manner. Will that really be the measure of how deep my decisions influence the story? Or is the big shift coming in later on in the narrative?

Hopefully my worries will be destroyed as the series approaches its conclusion. Everything else about this game is absolutely brilliant and within the style of 'The Walking Dead'. We get to see some of the best action scenes and dramatic dialog seen in a Telltale adventure game in this episode. The new characters are well acted and irregardless of the shift in tone due to time constraints of a season episode, their development is realistic, despite the circumstances are little predictable. Although that might just be my inner thriller/horror movie fan talking here.

Conflicts and character development is what makes 'The Walking Dead' most unique. You won't be left starving for zombie carnage with episode 2 and by the time you're done with it, you'll have your fill of human drama. |8

Goombd Was There! - E3 2012: Dishonored

Bethesda had a big presence at E3 this year. While not presenting a humongous list of games in their booth, the handful of titles they did show were pretty impressive. Among them, at the top of Goombd!'s favorites, was Dishonored, a hybrid game of stealth and action set in a gorgeously designed 'steampunk' world.

Visually, Dishonored is pretty striking; backgrounds emulate the look of matte painting concept art drawings, characters have an European comic book influence to their design and the overall presentation is very slick.

It's easy to throw out the word 'hybrid' about a game, and in Dishonored's case, it's probably the best way of describing it - there is, however, more depth to be found once you get past the fact that Arkane Studios took lots of notes from games like Bioshock and Thief and applied some of the best parts of these series into Dishonored.

While 'hybrid' certainly does not describe that mix of designs, it can easily fit to explain how you can actually go about in Dishonored. As a revenge fueled assassin that happens to have some cool powers (some reminiscent of Bioshock's spell book) and is bent on taking down a country's tyrant ruler.

In the guided demo, our assassin was given the mission of killing two distinct targets that happened to be in a brothel. The approach they could take was free form, and from what I witnessed, Dishonored handles both of the obvious ways to finish the mission quite well. A violent method with guns blazing attracted an army of guards, and after a pretty bloody shoot out and display of some of the supernatural abilities that were set to 11 in the demo - you won't be nearly as strong at this point in the actual game - so both targets were dead in a matter of minutes. The game doesn't shy away from violence, and deaths were pretty graphic and detailed in just about every kill.

On the other hand, the stealthy approach was about as sneaky and clever as you would expect, with some interesting twists throw in for good measure. Dishonored features a morality system, that according to Bethesda, acts as a crossroads in regards to which branches the story takes along the way. While nothing brand new, this system is in full effect when you play the game being stealthy. There are ways to avoid killing innocents, but at the same time, you can achieve a similar result, in a quiet fashion, while making a pile of corpses along with the intended victims.

According to the developers, and what I got during the demo, your options won't be so binary, allowing for a mix of the two, thanks to the different paths you can take both in gameplay and in how you evolve the main character's powers. This upgrade system was not shown during the demo, and as mentioned before, the assassin was overpowered for the demo's sake.

Dishonored was one of Goombd!'s highlights at E3 2012 and it's stated for an October release on Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC. Keep an eye out for a write-up on it soon!

Goombd Played! - Marvel Pinball Avengers Chronicles

A few years ago, I quit comics. Hero strips turned boring and I chose to follow them through the movies, which in Marvel's case, culminated with The Avengers. Surprisingly enough, that turned extremely well and Zen Studios didn't miss a beat. They've just released a new set of tables for Pinball FX 2 dubbed Avengers Chronicles, featuring Captain America's merry group of colorfully clad crusaders and a few of the bigger Marvel "sagas" like World War Hulk, Fear Itself and the always classic Infinity Gauntlet.

I tend to throw out the fact that I'm terrible at pinball games quite a lot when I talk about Pinball FX2 and in order not to sound repetitive, I'll avoid falling into my own cliché. Avengers Chronicles features some of the most gameplay varied tables since Epic Quest. Each of these backdrops has its own tricks and secrets, as well as a few variations to the pinball formula that are only physically possible due to the fact that this is videogame pinball and not the 'real' thing.

The pack starts out with the titular 'The Avengers' table, which takes place on the S.H.I.E.L.D heli carrier and spins the storyline around six different pinballs, each representing an avenger's story. This presentation take strays from what was done in previous multi character tables, giving you more control in regards to paths you want to take and is a lot more immersive, since once you lose a ball, you can just go back to it instantly, without the need to hit a special bumper or anything. Pick a ball and go.

The Avengers' table is probably the most ramp heavy out of the bunch, which can cause some confusion as to where the ball is going once it reaches a spot where numerous ramps intersect. All in all, it's a great addition to the Marvel Pinball/Pinball FX2 library, despite these issues.

Taking a slice from the actual Avengers movie, bumping directly with the post-credits sequence, The Infinity Gauntlet table features one of the most well-known Marvel storylines and villain, Thanos. This is among my favorites among this new set, thanks to how the gauntlet is implemented during gameplay: depending on which gem is activated, a different and crazier effect is applied on the ball, on the table or on both.

One of these effects, for instance, flips the gravity, forcing you to relearn pinball in order to keep the ball in play (at least momentarily) while another gem changes flipper control, locking the ball in place. 'Gauntlet is probably the farthest from "actual" pinball you'll get out of  'Chronicles thanks to its many fantastical quirks and tricks.

 

I have only a faint idea of what World War Hulk is as a story. As a table, it's as chaotic as you'd expect something Hulk related to be. It offers a simple design in comparison to the other tables in this pack and previous DLC, which works as a plus for those weekend pinball players like myself who are looking for a lot of thrills and high scores out of their game, one that doesn't require a lot of pinpoint accuracy but isn't a pushover either.

Like previous Marvel tables, 'Hulk's features plenty of cameos that are actually meaningful to the table's story, like Dr. Strange, Wolverine and Iron Man, who lend their powers in the vain hope of stopping Dr. Banner's alter ego.

 

Possibly the least known of the storylines and an absolute surprise of the set, Fear Itself introduces probably the most impressive gameplay twist out of all the tables for any Zen Studios pinball game. Throwing your game on the line, and scooping you away from losing a ball is a different shape to the bottom of the table. Depending on the speed with which you launch the ball towards it, you can either lose it for good or keep it in play.

In fact, the entire design of this table functions this half circle shape and how easy to bend the laws of physics are in this set of tables, keeping you on edge in regards to how you control the ball. Like Infinity Gauntlet, Fear Itself twists the pinball formula around in a way that could only be portrayed in a videogame.

Zen Studios is outdoing themselves with each content pack they put out. The Avengers Chronicles might just be one of their strongest efforts yet, bending the pinball fundamentals and squeezing new life into flipping metal spheres, getting high scores and enjoying the "ding ding ding" we've grown to associate with and love about pinball. |9

Goombd Played! - Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition

  

Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition is a great gateway into the world of Minecraft. If you've been mostly unaware of the game over the past couple of years like me, diving into this particular version of the game is a great way to get started.

For those that are not particularly familiar with what Minecraft is, a brief introduction: it's a blocky, three dimensional sandbox created by Sweedish developer Mojang where you can harvest resources and buy just about anything you can imagine. Or most of it, anyway. You're in charge of what you want to do. People have difficulty classifying this as a game due to the fact that there really aren't any goals to speak of.

The Xbox 360 version of Minecraft directs you towards goals somewhat with an expanded set of achievements to aim for and a new tutorial mode that teaches you the basics of mining and crafting items. Frankly, though, only a couple of the feats you can get a 'ding' for are actual challenges that will take much time to complete, like building a portal to another dimension, or putting together a railway system that crosses half of your world's extension.

Minecraft is a build-your-experience title, and even though the Xbox 360 version is relatively limited in comparison to the often updated PC port, due to that console's now increasingly meager technical resources, there's still a metric ton to see and do here. I've been playing the game for about 20 hours now and I've still to touch the edge of my map, which in this version of the game is comprised of a 500m sided cube. 

Like I mentioned before, starting out in Minecraft is even easier now thanks to a very friendly tutorial that eases you into the crafting of tools which you can put to use right away in harvesting materials. Your first tool as soon as you fire up the game is your fist, which you use to karate chop a tree, thus getting lumber to set up a workbench and construct an actual axe. The progression of materials is very well paced and before very long, you'll be sporting very durable diamond tools, which are just plain awesome to use. Speaking of tools, the Xbox 360 version also features a brand new streamlined crafting menu that does away with the annoyance of researching the Internet for crafting recipes - by simply having the "mats" in your inventory, you can make whatever it is you need, that is featured in that menu. Very handy.

Before diving into that though, you'll have to defend yourself. At night, monsters come out for your blood. Building a well lit shelter is paramount. Or, if you don't care about fighting and just want to have fun building, you can turn on peaceful mode. Sadly though, by doing that, you cut off a margin of finding unique resources that are only found in monsters, like the string to make bows that spiders spin, or bones that can be grounded up and act as fertilizer for your crops.

Finding your personal measure of fun is probably Minecraft's challenge. Some people already scratch their heads in amazement as to how this game can be so popular, while others simply cannot live without it. Frankly, I'm having a blast with it, mostly because I've been coming up with my own goals and missions. It all started out with building a castle on the top of a hill, growing to the creation of a farm and most recently, the successful construction of the aforementioned railway system, that now connects my main continent to a huge mining complex I've built on the other side of my world.

Most of Minecraft's veterans scoff and sneer this particular version of the game for lacking key features from the current iteration of the game on PC, like the freeform creative mode and the RPG adventure module. Mojang promised to slowly delivering content updates that should make the Xbox 360 version of Minecraft up to speed. As it stands, it's already an incredibly competent title, perfectly suited for new players, at a cheaper price (20 dollars, or 1600 Microsoft Points). Being one of those newbies, I can attest to that. You shouldn't miss this. |8