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Current (or recently played) games
Published on June 26, 2013 6:08 PM
2 minute read
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I hate when real life puts a crimp in my gaming. Or my blogging about games. Anyway, I have been fitting a little gaming in among the RLIs (Real Life Interruptions).

Still plugging away at Tomb Raider. Still really liking it. Still dying a lot, but it's not annoying enough to detract from my enjoyment of the game, unlike Uncharted.

I've also downloaded a few games over the last couple of weeks. Aegis Wing, a freebie off XBLA, is the favorite so far. Just a fun little shoot 'em up. I haven't made it past the first stage yet, but that doesn't really bother me, took me forever to get the hang of Time Pilot at first, too. I'm also intrigued by Storm, which is kind of a puzzle game where you have to use the elements to move a seed from one point to another. Some of the puzzles are easier than others, and sometimes it can be difficult to get the elements to do what you want them to do, but still fun. Nice, soothing music and pretty graphics, too. The third game is Mountain Crime: Requital, which is a cross between a point-and-click adventure and a hidden object game. There were some fun puzzles, the hidden object parts felt contrived, and the story,dialogue, and voice acting were laughably bad. They were so bad they fall into the "ought to have been a comedy" category. I had fun with it, and part of the fun was laughing at it. Worth picking up for cheap or free, but not for full price.

I also seem to have hooked Jason on Pinball Arcade. He's been playing on my account, though, so sometimes if you see me online, it's actually him.

So that's what I've been playing.

Comments
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Posted on June 26, 2013 6:19 PM

I love Aegis Wing! I still pop it in and play it every once and a while.

It funny how you like Tomb Raider and hated Uncharted too. I loved Tomb Raider and I just started Uncharted (At 4 am this morning actually, lol) and so far I'm absolutely loving it! I can't wait to play more Uncharted whenever I get time for it!

Posted on June 26, 2013 6:26 PM

It's not that I hate Uncharted, it's more the frustration factor with the combat. I'm not all that good at shooters, and so much of that game seems to be fighting off wave after wave of bullet sponges. Kinda takes the fun out of things when you keep dying over and over and over again in the same place. I have some issues with the combat in Tomb Raider, too, but at least I can usually figure out where and when the bad guys are going to appear after the first couple of failed attempts, and there's usually plenty of ammo to be found.

Posted on June 26, 2013 7:03 PM

Heh, I didn't really like Tomb Raider. The first hour of the game almost made me uninstall it from my computer. It had a cutscene every three seconds and a QTE at every other. Not to mention Lara Croft isn't a character, she just moans and gets beaten on the entire game. But if you like it that's fine. I just prefer my games to be games, not movies with some interactive bits thrown in.

Posted on June 26, 2013 7:05 PM

Yeah, I've figured out that you and I just don't have the same taste. It's OK, if everyone liked the same thing, it would be an awfully boring world.

Posted on June 26, 2013 7:17 PM

Glad you've been enjoying TombRaider, Tami! It's actually at a resonable price on amazon so I have been tempted. My only qualm with it thus far is there is no "+ game" mode. I guess I could play it again on a higher difficulty just to challenge myself though.

Posted on June 26, 2013 7:22 PM

There's enough to do that it should keep you occupied for a while. I like how I can go back to previous areas and find the stuff I missed during the story portion, and there is a lot to find. Hidden tombs, documents, challenges, artifacts, and gps caches are all there waiting to be found and/or looted. I hear the multiplayer is unbelieveably bad, but  it's not the kind of game I go in for multiplayer anyway.

Posted on June 26, 2013 8:16 PM

I do like the option to back travel. That might have won me over! I'm with you on the multi-player. Even if it was good it wouldn't be the main draw of this game for me.

Posted on June 26, 2013 8:22 PM

I wasn't sure I was going to buy it either, so I rented it from the Redbox at the supermarket down the road to make sure I was going to like it before I invested in my own copy.

Posted on June 26, 2013 7:27 PM

I hear such conflicting things about Tomb Raider.  I'm not a fan of the old ones, and I never really played them, so I would come into it kind of a stranger to the character and the gameplay. 

IT's only $30 on Amazon now, but I'm going to wait, because Far Cry 3 is only $20 and I'm going to go with that soon.  I was going to get the Last of Us, but something tells me to wait on that, despite the hype.  I think Julian just posted a slightly negative review of it here on Pixlbit too.  I'm sure it's a great game, I just don't feel like playing it yet. 

I need something new to play on my consoles though, and good games don't really hit this July.  Not till August with Xilia and Saints Row, which I might or might not get. 

Posted on June 26, 2013 7:36 PM

I was never a fan of the original Tomb Raider. Coming into it without having played the originals may be a good thing, I dunno. I like the new character model for Lara, I like the story, I like being able to explore, I like the collectibles. The QTEs range from OK to annoying. I didn't think the cut scenes detracted from the game play, and they get further between as you progress into the game.  I love the basic four weapons and that you can upgrade them as you go, and pretty much everything you do earns XP and that XP translates into points that you can use to buy skills for Lara. I can see where a lot of people might not like it, but it's more my cup of tea than a lot of the other action/adventure games out there these days.

Posted on June 26, 2013 8:01 PM

I have the Williams Collection which has a ton of tables from Pinball Arcade on it. My wife and I were playing that thing nightly for the past couple of months. Lots of fun! We need to buy Pinball Arcade to get a few non- Williams tables, though. Any recommendations?

Posted on June 26, 2013 8:19 PM

My first recommendation is to get the PSN version of Pinball Arcade. The controls work slightly better on the XBLA version, but they seem to have stopped supporting it after only adding a few tables Cry.

After that, I really like Attack From Mars, Cirqus Voltaire, Creature From the Black Lagoon, Theater of Magic, Elvira, and Big Shot for non-Williams tables. Unless you're really into excessive tweaking, the Pro versions aren't really worth it.

Posted on June 27, 2013 2:38 AM

I was leaning towards buying it on PS3 to enable cross-play on my as of yet unpurchased Vita. You have sealed the deal! Those are good recommendations too. I've played Attack from Mars and Creature from the Black Lagoon in real life, so I'm sure I'll enjoy them on the PS3 too.

Posted on June 27, 2013 2:47 AM

The local pizza place down the street from me had Attack From Mars. Unfortunately, half the time it was broken.

Posted on June 26, 2013 11:19 PM

Time PIlot is awesome.

Right now I'm playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf, but I'm about to have to review some games, too, like Project X-Zone, Deadpool, etc.

Posted on June 27, 2013 2:48 AM

And I will check out those reviews on GamerDad.

Posted on June 26, 2013 11:41 PM

I hope to play the new Tomb Raider someday, but I still haven't finished that collection I bought ages ago. The combat in Uncharted is pretty annoying. WTF do all those dudes come from anyway?! They just keep on coming! Yell

Posted on June 27, 2013 2:53 AM

The new Tomb Raider is pretty much a stand-alone game so far. I don't think it's all that long of a game, just taking me a while. I rage-quit Uncharted. My friend Michael has agreed to come over and do the combat parts so I can go back to puzzles and exploration. At least with Tomb Raider, I can usually get myself through after I've died enough times.

Posted on June 27, 2013 12:39 AM

I downloaded Aegis Wing, but I hadn't played it yet.  I also picked up Crash Course 2.  I hadn't played it either, but I loved the 1st game. 

Posted on June 27, 2013 2:54 AM

I completely forgot about Crash Course 2! I downloaded that, too. Both it and Aegis Wing are a lot of fun. I never played the first Crash Course.

Posted on June 27, 2013 1:52 AM

Pinball games are one of the most wierdly addictive experiences ever Tami. I love playing them on my 3DS XL, somehow the 3D experience makes it even more fulfilling. 

Posted on June 27, 2013 2:39 AM

I feel like the 3D always gets out of sync and blurry on pinball on there... but maybe my brain just can't keep up. 

Posted on June 27, 2013 2:44 AM

To be fair when my 3D slider is all the way up I can have this problem too, it took me a while to accept that some games I just cant play with the full depth available. Not sure if this is the problem you had! Revelations was the same for me, I can only really see that game properly with the slider a little of the way up!

Posted on June 27, 2013 4:06 AM

Yeah, I futzed with it a lot on Zen Pinball and Pinball Hall of Fame... Zen was much worse, but I assume it's because the ball is pretty zippy in that one.

Posted on June 27, 2013 2:56 AM

I can't do 3D, either I don't see it, or it makes me nauseous. Neither one entices me. I grew up playing the real thing in the arcades, but arcades seem to be a dying breed. And I don't live within walking distance of the comic book store anymore :( 

Posted on June 27, 2013 2:49 AM

I'll give Tomb Raider a shot at some point, what turned me off was the rampant QTE's I keep hearing about, and I LOATHE QTE's; I loved RE4, and I felt the QTEs even in that felt obstrusive and entirely unnecessary.

Pinball games can be incredibly fun, I've always been a big Kirby's Pinball fan (big shocker). Awesome, awesome game!

Posted on June 27, 2013 2:57 AM

There are a bunch of QTEs in the beginning, but they seem to get fewer the further you go. Or at least less annoying.

Posted on June 27, 2013 4:08 AM

Good to know!

Posted on June 27, 2013 5:38 AM

I played Aegis Wing a quite a few years ago and you are right that is a pretty good game, especially for being free. I don't remember if I beat it, but I do remember it getting pretty difficult.

I'm just waiting for Tomb Raider to hit that magic price point of $20 for me to pick it up. Lots of games to keep me occupied in the meantime anyway.

Posted on June 27, 2013 6:17 PM

I wouldn't have gotten Tomb Raider if it hadn't been a lightning deal on Amazon at the exact time I was checking on prices. It was half-price, seemed like it was meant to be, lol.

Aegis Wing will not get the better of me!!! Well, it might, but at least I'll have fun and go down fighting Smile.

Posted on June 27, 2013 4:36 PM

I almost picked up Tomb Raider last night, but I'm gonna hold off until the end of summer when I knock out a couple of games.

You can't go wrong with freebie games. Pinball Arcade is loads of fun (one of the freebies from PS+ I've played a bit of)

Posted on June 27, 2013 6:21 PM

I'm not a Plus member. I have my reasons. So no freebie tables for me there. Nice thing about Live, when the game's free, it stays free, even if you're no longer a Gold member, unlike Plus.

I think you're right to hold off until the end of summer, the price should come down a lot by then, too. It's a fun game, but I don't know if it's a great game. It has its share of issues, like the QTEs, but I'm enjoying it.

Posted on June 28, 2013 3:52 PM

I loved Tomb Raider,but wished there had been more exploration and puzzles to solve. It seemed really heavy on combat. But the great story made it worth fighting through wave after wave of enemies. Aegis Wing sounds like one I would like. So does Mountain Crime,as I've been playing lots of point and click games lately.

Posted on June 28, 2013 8:29 PM

For some odd reason, the multitude of enemies hasn't annoyed me nearly as much as the ones in Uncharted did. And I like how once you've cleared 'em out, you can go back and explore to your hearts content.

Aegis WIng is fun, and FREE! Simple design, and not easy to survive. But it's fun.

Wait on Mountain  Crime, it's not worth the $15. I think Red Johnson's Chronicles is cheaper, and kind of the same idea. Machinarium is another good point-and-click. Actually, I'm working on a point-and-click adventure game blog entry. It may be a while before I actually get it up, though. Been dealing with the summer cold from hell for the last couple of days. Took TWO sick days off in a row, and I'm feeling bad about it because I was supposed to be the closer for the last two nights. I have no idea who filled in for me, I suspect Michael has done split shifts for the past two days to cover both ends of the day. I have awesome co-workers!

Posted on June 28, 2013 9:07 PM

Sorry you're feeling sick right now. Nothing worse than a cold in the summer. Thanks for the warning on Mountain Crime. I'm still trying to finish Runaway on my iPad. Then there's the sequel to that,Hidden Runaway. So I have my plate full when it comes to point and click adventures.

Posted on July 8, 2013 1:41 AM

You should try out the other free game offerings on XBLA. You'd be suprised how much fun Dorito's Crash Course games are, and happy wars is a good time killer. Just don't fall for the microtransaction buys, you can get most of them if you just play the game regularly.