2:15am, too scared to sleep

I’ve spent the past three hours playing Condemned: Criminal Origins on my XBox360.  I played it for a few hours just a few days ago too.  I knew what I was getting myself into.  Except it was daylight when I played that day.  Tonight I started at 11:00pm.  After the first half-hour I reluctantly turned off the overhead light because the game is so dark, the light in my room just makes it harder to see.  Most of the game is spent walking through corridors and checking every corner for crazed madmen… in the dark… with only a small flashlight and a single weapon.

Now, three hours later, it’s 2:15am and I want to go to sleep.  My blood pressure and adrenaline are up.  I heard all sorts of creaks and other odd noises as I went to use the toilet and then brush my teeth.  I kept watching the bathroom door reflected in the mirror for any movement or shift of shadows beyond the crack of an opening.  More noises… more blood pressure.  I had remembered to lock and bolt the door to the flat before I started playing.  I knew I would be paranoid after playing.

I found myself looking around the bathroom as I brushed my teeth.  Looking for makeshift weapons like you do in the game.  I decided that the shower curtain rod was my only real option.  I could get that down in a hurry if I needed to.  I touched it… it seems sturdy.

This flat makes a lot of strange noises now that I’m alone here.  My imagination loves that.  I hope it’s just my imagination.  I’m going to go run to the bed and hide under the covers now.  I’m just glad that the wardrobes are gone so nothing can hide in them while I fall asleep.  And the bed has storage underneath instead of being open space.  Something might otherwise grab my ankle as I get in bed.

Maybe I’ll just sleep right here… in front of the computer.  Safer that way.  I hope….

Assassin’s Creed Review

Over the weekend I finally finished Assassin’s Creed on the XBox 360.  I had gotten it while we were back in the States for the holidays when Best Buy had it on sale for $39.99 USD.  Considering the game was still new and selling for $60 normally, I thought that was a pretty good deal.

It took me a couple weeks of playing off and on but I finally beat it and I have to say that I enjoyed the game quite a bit.  I knew that the game was reviewing fairly well  with the major games sites and magazines so my expectations were relatively high.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with the premise of the game, you are an assassin during the 3rd Crusades that Europe made against “the Holy Lands”.  Your Brotherhood of Assassins is tasked with stopping the Knights Templar from obtaining certain artifacts that would change the war in their favor.

What I didn’t know about the game was that its based in the future and all the medieval action takes place in a genetic memory replay computer thingy.  You are actually a descendant of the assassin in question and they use this machine to have you relive his memories through genetic memory.  It all sounds kind of weird but it works.  So there’s actually two storylines going on and they’re relatively interesting.

Gameplay is fun.  I’ll just say that now.  It’s like a medieval version of Crackdown but with much better graphics.  However, it is also rather repetitive for such a big name game.  Don’t get me wrong though… the stabbings and the tasks may be the same over and over, but it remains fun throughout.  The enemies become more plentiful as well as better trained as you become more skilled yourself.  There are hidden items littering the landscape if you could just find them and the only inventory you ever have to worry about are your throwing knives (which are easily replaced).  This simplicty keeps the action going strong.

Once you get the hang of it, you can take on a group of soldiers on your own or run like hell through the city trying to lose them.  You can hide in hay stacks or blend in with white robed scholars.  You can go anywhere in four cities in the game world and let me just say that the scope of these cities is huge.  It’s amazing when you climb the tallest tower in a city and look around and see exactly where you are and the hundreds of buildings there are around you in just one city.

This game could potentially be rather short if you wanted it to be.  Some tasks are necessary but others like saving citizens from abusive soldiers are not.  You only need to do a certain amount of tasks before you can go on each of your assassination missions but you would miss out on some odds and ends and some Achievements if you are playing on XBox 360.  I tried to complete as much as I could and there are still plenty of objectives that I didn’t finish.

If you liked Crackdown then you’ll probably really like Assassin’s Creed.  If you liked Assassin’s Creed then you should definitely try Crackdown if you haven’t already.  I say that because Crackdown didn’t sell very well compared to Assassin’s Creed which is a shame.  It’s definitely one of my favorite 360 games so far and Assassin’s Creed gets the formula right as well.  I’ll be looking out for the sequels.

Beautiful Rumors

This is so far unconfirmed, but it looks like the upcoming Beautiful Katamari game will be on the XBox 360 and Nintendo Wii but NOT the PS3. It may even release ONLY on the XBox360, although I think leaving the Wii audience out is a big misstep. This is shocking for many reasons and yet completely reasonable when I think about it.

The original Katamari Damacy was an incredible game along with it’s sequel We Love Katamari. The first was such a sleeper hit that it was only marketed with a starting price of $20. For a brand new PS2 game, that is insane as they generally start at $50. The game and the $20 price tag kep the first game flying off the shelves and it was nearly impossible to find for the first few months. Luckily for me my Dad found it for me for Christmas. Katamari Damacy and it’s sequel were both Sony PS2 exclusives. Me and My Katamari, the third and what was supposed to be final installment, was released only on the Sony PSP. So if you notice the trend, this has always been a Sony exlusive.

Now the XBo360 and Wii are outselling the new PS3 everywhere and the developers are taking notice. Why spend the time and money to develop for a platform that has no users? And if you are a user, why buy the most expensive game console if there are no games being developed for it? Sure it’s a self defeating cycle, but that’s how these things work. Darwinism for gaming.

I love the Katamari series and I think it will be great on my XBox360, HOWEVER I am concerned about the controls. On the PS2, you have two analog sticks that used to control the Katamari like a tank. The XBox360 controller also has two analog sticks but the big difference is that they are offset. The PS2 sticks were symmetrical and easy to control. I’m afraid this may be more difficult on the 360′s sticks where the left stick is farther forward than the right one. I don’t know, maybe it will be just as easy. I crave symmetry… what can I say?

Anyway, however this plays out, it looks like we will be seeing a new Katamari on the 360 by the end of the year. Just in time for the Thanksgiving/Christmas shopping holidays. Most XBox360 games start at $60 USD in the States (about $45-50 USD here in Hong Kong (why is that?)) and I can’t see this franchise going to that level. This is not the most complicated or stunning game series ever made and doesn’t warrant those kinds of prices. However, if they stick with the same formula from the original games, it’s already a winner.