Roderick

Hmm, I think what happens is that the game is really made for consoles with console resolutions, so you don't notice it that much when there isn't a lot of detail on the ground or something. On PC that's slightly more noticeable. On top of that, the art direction is not always strong. Enemies generally look amazing, but the human characters, especially the faces, are weird. And why don't the mouths move when people talk? It's like I'm back in 1997. Mind you, I don't really care about any of it, just things I noticed.

Vouching for Dark Corners of the Earth. Never finished it, but frequently played through the first couple of hours, including

I've begun my Dark Souls adventure in high spirits. I'm confident I won't run into any difficulties or die terribly that much. I'm kidding, I got utterly destroyed several times in a row by the first batch of skeletons in a non-descript graveyard. I thought the game looked extremely poor, until Lu pointed me to a very useful and easy mod that doubles the resolution. Now the game is crisp - though still pretty ugly. The controls took some getting used to and I have no idea what I'm doing. Some general browsing has lead me to the knowledge that humanity is useful and I should probably reroll as a warrior instead of a sorceror. I agree, since I think it's better to come to grips with the game's mêlée combat at first. If I get dependent on ranged combat, I get the feeling I'll be at a disadvantage throughout the game. Better tackle the beast head on. And get some payback on those damned skeletons.

Hey cool, you immediately got some coverage on Kotaku. Good for you!

Isn't the purpose of Civ to present players with a fun sandbox in which to play and tinker with history and diverse gameplay elements with a historical skew to them? If you look at it as a proper piece of either historical documentation or a thesis on how culture spreads, it obviously falls apart with extreme severity. I do think, and hope, and know, that there are games that take that truer historical/scientific route, but Civ isn't it. Civ is goofy. You can start out as prehistoric Napoleon and assimilate Beijing. Don't take this seriously. It's pretty "dumb" entertainment (from an academic standpoint), but made with smart elements for a more discerning crowd.

Really? Shit, it's been too long for me to really appreciate the subtleties, but what I got from it (and mind you, I wasn't smitten by it or anything) was a pretty interesting sense of location. Valhalla Rising creates this weird pseudo-medieval/Roman era Northern Europe, which borders on a sort of dreamlike imagination. Nothing's quite believable (the boat scene a prime example), but it's a stark vision. That, at least, I liked.

Valhalla Rising is a difficult film, but quite powerful nonetheless. Nothing beats Refn's Bronson though!

Well, you've had more luck than me. I tried it this morning and it wouldn't even start, crashing at the launcher. I've been browsing for a solution, but haven't gotten further than 'install DirectX 11' and 'verify the files'. I'm actually assuming my graphics card is just too old (ATI 3800) to play it, though I would've appreciated it actually trying to run, rather than just crashing. I might only be able to play the game after upgrading. Well, I guess that comes with the territory.

Thanks, Synth. I just finished the game - once I figured that one out it was smooth sailing until the end. I loved the infamous ending way mor than before, enjoying especially all the cool foreshadowing and hints at what was coming. The final battle was just so much fun. This game is AWESOME. And I love that you guys gave me such super vague hints. They really worked to get me in the right direction, while still leaving all the actual puzzling to me. OK, my next adventure won't be Lucasarts. After all this old school gaming, it's time to delve into modern German adventures. My next one will be The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav. Been looking forward to that for some time!

System Shock 2 Strike Suit Zero bundle (woot!) Dork Souls Double Fine bundle Overlord bundle Trine 2 (trine, trine, triiiiiine) Finaru Fantashy VII Daedalic bundle Le Walking Dead To The Moon Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed DLC Pack With Outrun and Metal Sonic All in all, I paid 74 pieces of eight for this ridiculous heap of gaming goodness.

More thinking on MI2:

I was mulling over it in the shower and here's my thinking: Gonna try this right away. Update: ADVENTURE LOGIC PREVAILS

You put me on the right track, Ben, and now I'm in possession of the third map piece. Only one to go, and I still haven't a clue what to do with .

Haha, wow, those are amazingly vague and that's pretty much what I asked for. I'll try some stuff again. Even though I went through MI2 years and years ago, I've forgotten all of the puzzels, so nope, I know nothing of an infamously awful puzzle. Let's see if I can breach it regardless.

I may be ready for my hint now. Problem is, it's pretty hard explaining where I am. Okay, I'd like some super vague directional hints on the following topics: <<Rapp's oven door>> <<How to get across the river on Phatt island>>

On the topic of hints; in the special edition of MI(2), I need only stretch my hand and touch the "H" button and a hint will pop up. It is so close, and all would be lost. I'm totally managing that though. I've not been tempted once. I guess my resolve is rather handsomely strong in this matter.

I splurged on Double Fine and Overlord bundles, overall I've plunked about 60 pieces of eight into the sale, but I got a HUGE amount of fantastic games for it. Feeling good about playing them all, because I've got a fine rhythm going, playing on Steam every evening after getting my other work and chores done.

Yesterday it was late at night, so I thought to myself: why not do a singleplayer challenge racey thing where you have to eliminate the competition (three hits and you're out) at gold star level. Something amazing happened: I failed and failed and failed (never even reaching the finish line), but I kept pressing on. For some reason it didn't get frustrating, but more enticing to try again. I think the reason is that there are so many variables in terms of positioning and pick-ups that I felt I always had a chance at improving just by getting a good run. Damn thing took me an hour, but when I made it, it was a glorious thing. Then it was the middle of the night and I had to sleep, and slept super poorly because of the excitement. Damn Sonic. Extremely fun and challenging game mode though! And I can guarantee that I am now a boss at that level. I know all the boost spots.

Those were some pretty intense rounds! We totally snatched defeat from the jaws of victory that one time!

I still have those wheels at home... glad I don't need them anymore to play a video game. Well, goofing around sure paid off in MI2! I got a ton of things done and two map pieces to boot. I like this part of the game (who am I kidding, I like everything so far), because there's so much to do and no matter what, you always feel like you're accomplishing at least something. I found a crazy pump at the top of the waterfall! Curious what it'll do, hopefully to get me across the river to the closed-off part of the island.

I think the only thing that might entice me to try Iron Brigade again is doing co-op. I was already playing with the maximum gun trench. I can see how this game is really fun though, if it's your thing!

I was thinking the exact same thing. I've made about 2,50 euros so far, which is pretty neat considering it cost me no effort at all.

It's become very noticeable that the getaway cards are decreasing in value every day. Where I once got 30 cents for them, now they're worth half of that. Shame, but it was only a matter of time, I guess.

I think I'm done with Iron Brigade. I'm at the (admittedly tough) hospital level, and even though there are enough things I could do with load-outs to make it through, I've noticed that I'm not so much playing the game out of enjoyment as out of an obligation to make it to the end. I guess this genre is just not for me: waves of enemies, building turrets. I get more of a kick out of either building a full base RTS style, or going into the fight as a single dude against (non-spawning) enemies. The combination doesn't work for me. And since my Steam list is full of games, I don't feel too bad. I AM hugely enjoying games like Monkey Island 2 and Dust: An Elysian Tale.

Don't know it by name, but really, there are 18 episodes in total, so it's not hard either scanning them or watching them all.