Now that my first year of medical school is over (more on that later), I’m finding myself with absolutely no responsibility and plenty of free time. I decided to go back and catch up on a bunch of games I’d tried out a while ago and then never finished.
Starting with the game highest on my pile of shame this console generation, I restarted and finished Bioshock. What a great game. I only have two complaints. The audio diaries were an innovative way to tell Bioshock’s narrative, but the garbled sound effects and combat craziness made it really difficult to understand what they were saying sometimes. Also, the plasmids were a lot of fun to use, but there were almost too many to choose from. I never used the bee plasmid, and I actually played through the majority of the game (except the final chapters) by shocking enemies and then running up to them with the wrench. Other than that, I loved it. I can’t wait for the sequel.
Then I turned my attention to Too Human. I’d read all of the reviews and knew exactly what to expect going into the game, but I figured I should really see what a game that’s been in development for 10 years looked like. Prey didn’t turn out too bad. How much worse could Too Human be? That game is an exercise in tedium. The story is almost incomprehensible due to a complete lack of exposition, the combat is mindless, death is inevitable (so much so that they gave me 5 achievement points for my 100th dirt nap), and that infuriating death sequence is one of the most unfathomable design decisions I’ve ever seen. I don’t think I’ll ever play Too Human again.
Finally, I picked up Assassin’s Creed again. I love that game. I can understand how its repetitive nature was a divisive point for a lot of people, but I really enjoyed it. I was very invested in the story and I think the presentation values were impressive (even the altered Ubisoft logo at the startup screen was a nice touch). Assassin’s Creed 2 will be a day-one purchase for me.
I’ve started playing Lost Planet again, and when I’m done with that I’ll probably give Mass Effect another shot. I want to get through the games that have sequels coming out so that I’m all caught up. In unrelated news, this may be the first year that I miss E3. The conference starts on my birthday when my dad and I will be heading out to a Porsche racetrack to get some free racing lessons. Then on June 3rd I’ll be heading to Niagara Falls for a few days with my fiancee. I love having nothing to do!
