Video Games

Aside from the hour or two of GTA 2 that I played on the PC years ago, this was my first Grand Theft Auto game. I don't find that whole gangsta thing terribly appealing. However, mature rated games are very hard to come by on the DS so I decided to try this out. Having finally completed the main storyline, I have to say this one of the best games on the DS by far.

Mirror's Edge is another free-running inspired game like Assassin's Creed. But unlike Assassin's Creed, the acrobatic roof running is actually an integral part of the game mechanics and fun. With its puzzle-based level design, this game has much more in common with Portal than anything else.

Pictured above is one of the many exciting "sit and watch some guys talk" missions from the PC game Assassin's Creed: Director's Cut. Yup. Your goal on these quests is to find some guys, sit on a bench, and listen to them. No this isn't a Wii Fit balance game, it's Assassin's Creed!

Fallout 1 and 2 are two of my favorite computer games. Those games had a great style to them, engaging post-apocalyptic story lines and a great turn-based combat system. Fallout 3 is a worthy 3-D successor to those games that falls short only in its game combat mechanics. At first glance Fallout 3 looks like a first person shooter. You can try to play it that as a standard shooter but you will soon find out that it's and awful FPS.

 Braid got a lot of critical praise when it was released for Xbox. When it went on sale for the PC on Steam for $4.99, I immediately grabbed it. For once, this is a game that actually lives up to the hype that surrounds it.

This was another bargain purchase for me. Ten dollars on Amazon during one of their Gold Box sales. I'd have to say it was well worth the price.

I remember when this game came out it got all sorts of game of the year awards on G4 and such. After having played it through I can say it isn't THAT good, but it is pretty good game, and one of the best Wii games I've played. However, if this were a PC game I would only consider it to be mildly above average compared to other PC shooters like Half Life 2. The movement controls are atrocious and the ugly, muddy palette is so 1998. You do get used to the clumsy movement after a half hour or so. I was willing to deal with the tank controls because, on the other hand (literally), using the wiimote as a shooting device works very well. Taking aim at monsters and zombies and blowing them away is very satisfying.

I found this game used for around twelve bucks a few months ago. I'm glad I picked it up because it is a really entertaining game. This is an adventure game. That means it's not the fastest, most exciting game around, but I liked the laid-back pacing. Unlike the LucasArts game from the 90s, this game's puzzles actually make sense. There was hardly ever a moment when didn't have an idea of what I needed to be doing.

Old Ironsides is a two-player game for the Apple II that simulates Nineteenth Century naval combat. Having read all twenty Aubry/Maturin seafaring novels, I have been craving some sort of naval battle game. The problem is, when you get down to it, ninety percent of the action in the novels is comprised of the days long chase of an enemy ship. Not the stuff of an action packed game. Old Ironsides strips most of the technical aspects of sea battles away to reveal an arcade-like multi-player game much in the same vein as the classic Atari Combat.

Leisure Suit Larry is one of my favorite adventure games of all time. Certainly the best of the Sierra 3-D games in my opinion. It may not the most challenging game or have the deepest storyline, but what it lacks in depth, it makes up for in humor. Leisure Suit Larry is essentially an 80s PG-13 sex comedy in pixelated form.