In this entry, I'm going to discuss a bunch of games I either didn't finish or just don't have that much to say about.
Team Fortress 2 is a cartoony, critically acclaimed, first person shooter published by Valve. It's a game I've owned since it's 2007 release, but have only just gotten into. I've come to really love this game over the last couple months; it's probably what I'll be spending the majority of summer playing.
What TF2 brings to the table is a great amount of variety. Not only are there nine distinct, well-balanced classes, but for the classes that have received updates there are a few differing playstyles within as well. There are also plenty of different game variants (although nearly everything has a desert aesthetic). What I especially love about TF2 though are the different characters. Their personalities, backgrounds, and design are all unique, and what more, I would argue that, for a multiplayer-only game, Valve has given each of these characters a better persona than the vast majority of games out there.
I don't really have much to complain about, the game is near perfect. There are two issues, one of which was just cleared up with a very recent patch. The game used to tie weapon unlocks to an achievement system, which resulted in myself and many others having to cheat our way through the achievements to unlock the new weapons. Now unlocks are random, and though I'd prefer all my new weapons immediately, this is a good compromise. The system's buggy and unfinished, but it should be really cool when Valve finishes it up. The other problem I have in TF2 is random critical damage, which lowers the skill-based element. This element of randomness should be removed. But, these problems are minute on the grand scale. Valve has shown their dedication in the games upkeep spanning nearly two years since it's original release, there is absolutely no reason not to own this game if you are into first person shooters. You also get Portal and Half Life 2 with the game, both of which are also exceptional productions by Valve.
Dead Rising came out in 2006, to a mostly positive reaction. What I liked: story, sandbox style gameplay and the in-game photography element (lol Wii version goes here). What made me quit? A very crappy save system. I played for about an hour, beat my first miniboss, and then died in a zombie clusterfuck in the next area. I then realized that the game had not saved any progress I had made in that past hour. What a stupid design decision. After realizing that I would have to start over from nearly the beginning, I pretty much rage quit. I might look at Dead Rising 2 to see if they've rectified this, but otherwise, this game is a wash for me.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is an older game, released in 2003. I played this game then, and I played through it earlier this year when I purchased it on Steam. Really quite a fun game. It was very innovative in its time, with tricky puzzles involving some serious parkour, and especially with the time-control mechanic. This combined with what is one of the better stories in the games industry makes for a great legacy of a game (so good in fact that they're making a movie out of it... we'll see how that goes). The only downside this game had was that the combat was dull, frustrating, and repetitive. And... said combat makes up a good part of the game. Overall though, a good game, and a decent quality port.
Prince of Persia: Warrior Within is the sequel to Sands of Time, and I believe came with an overhaul to the aforementioned combat system. Unfortunately, the port of it on Steam has bogged me down with framerate issues, so I haven't touched it in a while.
Prince of Persia came out last year, and was the newest iteration of the Prince of Persia series. This game has some really pretty graphics; I loved the cel-shaded style. On the other hand, the story and dialogue are absolutely banal. I disliked the slow pace of combat and seeming disappearance of the prince's athletic fighting style in previous games. Prince of Persia trades linearity for an open-ended world; this I also dislike. I jumped, hopped, and flipped my way over to one side of the world only to find the door at the end required me to gather more light seeds. I felt pretty lost, so I started hopping, jumping, and skipping my way back only to have the game crash out of Steam and never load properly again. I uninstalled it and since haven't gone back to it. I really felt like I wasted my money here.
And finally, Lost Planet. I have almost nothing positive to say about this game. I bought the Steam port for $5 during the discount weekend because it looked cool (I'm a huge sucker for the snow aesthetic). Bought it, bashed my head on the wall trying to get through the ass-backwards tutorial that only taught me how to play the game on an xbox controller. Hey you buffoons, I'm on a pc! Whatever... I figured it out; decided to keep playing on. The gameplay is standard fare third person action shooting, with a contrived storyline featuring a bunch of predictable stereotypes. Through the second level and into the third I got sound issues which eventually made the game unplayable; it was quickly uninstalled. The Steam port is an absolute piece of garbage; the game itself might be worth it on xbox if you find it in the bargain bin. Also, all these poor-quality ports have seriously turned me off buying anything third-party on the Steam platform.
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