ck's weblog: my world, cogitated

Flock (PC) let me down. I was excited by the concept -- it's a game where you're an alien trying to herd sheep (and later other animals) into your craft for an unknown purpose. It's cute, it's clever, and it's completely impossible to play. The problem probably doesn't exist on consoles where a joypad is used for UFO navigation, but the PC version tried to use the mouse in a way that simply doesn't work.

I did enjoy Wheelman (PS3). The plot seemed inconsistent, but any confusion about why I was doing something or why my employers weren't trying to kill me was overshadowed by the driving portion of the game. It felt very much like someone (let's call him "Vin") played some Grand Theft Auto games, made a list of the aspects of the game that he liked and disliked, and asked his own video game studio to make something better. Wheelman is indeed something better. The standard tedium is largely removed (players aren't required to drive across town from their save point just to begin a mission) and new abilities are added that ratchet up the fun. It has some rough edges, but the overall experience is well on the positive side.

Much like its predecessor, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was better than I expected. It's simply Michael Bay doing what he's best at, and there's something to be said for sticking to your strengths.

I've been working on our FY10 Sun hardware maintenance contract since November and it's finally coming to fruition. We're switching vendors, service levels, and the scope of which machines are covered. Put together, all that will provide us with better service than we've gotten in the past at 25.4% the cost of our FY09 contract.

While none of that six-figure savings is going to make it into my salary, it may save us from having to cut necessary expenditures if the State's budget proves unkind.

I was finally able to get my hands on some "kosher for Passover" Coke this year:

It's made with cane sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup because during Passover, leaveners (including corn, and somewhat oddly, its non-leavening derivatives) are forbidden. I'm not a stickler for Jewish customs, but I do look forward to the chance every year to buy a product I like better than the corn-syrup-sweetened Coke.

Pepsi, for different reasons, is testing the waters. In a limited-time run, they've released "throwback" versions of Pepsi-Cola and Mountain Dew, both made without high-fructose corn syrup:

Our local Pepsi bottler isn't taking part in the promotion, but my sister was good enough to get me some North-Carolinian soda during her last week as a Duke student. I prefer each of them to their modern counterparts, unsurprisingly. I just hope they stick around for the long term.

I've spent even more time than usual playing video games this year. Here's the rundown on what was and wasn't worth it:

Flower (PS3) is pretty. There's some Internet discussion over whether it truly counts as a game, given that it's impossible to lose. Most of the game consists of flying around dull landscapes and hitting targets to make them beautiful, and that's it. It's a laid-back experience that's nice for an occasional escape from the tension of modern gaming.

Everyday Shooter (PS3), in contrast, is a frenetic dual-analog shooter with far too many things on the screen at a given time for me to keep track of them all. There are a lot of games in that genre, but Everyday Shooter is noteworthy for a few reasons. First, it's laid out like an album. Each level lasts for the duration of the background music with the player's actions adding to the composition. Beyond that, every level has different enemies and a unique way of chaining together kills for optimal points (and survival). At first glance, the game has an intimidating difficulty curve -- I often find myself a the end of a level realizing that I haven't been blinking -- but after a while, it feels entirely appropriate. I'm a fan.

Far Cry 2 (PC), on the other hand, disappointed me. The name seems to suggest that it's a sequel to Far Cry, but that would be a lie. The gameplay is different, eschewing all the stealth and subtlety that I enjoyed in Far Cry, and the story feels lazy. There is a lot of repetition between missions, and the story arcs in weird and unexplained ways, especially at the end. It seems like I spent the majority of my time in the game travelling from place to place, which gets old quickly. There are plenty of better first person shooters out there, so I'd have to recommend playing one of them instead.

Fallout 3 (PS3,PC) is a great example of a first person shooter that should be played instead of Far Cry 2. Combined, Mel and I have played through the game three times, which probably says it all. We're looking forward to the May 5 release of "Broken Steel," the third downloadable content pack.

Madworld (Wii) is a spectacle, bring family-unfriendly comic-book-style ultra-violence to the Wii. It's worth a rental or borrow just to see that yes, they did that on that platform, but I haven't found the gameplay to hold up to justify my purchase. Maybe I'm getting too old for this shit.

Or maybe not. Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness Episode 2 (PS3) succeeded with the occasionally juvenile, often profane sense of humor from the webcomic. The initial PS3 release came with a bug that corrupted my saved game immediately before the final showdown with a giant Fruit Fucker, so we're replaying that ~98% of the game and not minding a bit.

Or maybe so. Mega Man 9 (PS3) has reminded me how I don't miss the days of memorizing all the enemy attack patterns in every level. There was a time when I played through Mega Man 3, and that time was junior high. I've taken for granted how much games have changed since then, and as it turns out, I really like the new way. I can't say that Mega Man 9 is in any way a bad game. Capcom set out to make an authentic game, and they did. It was I who got soft.

I'm not sure how to describe World of Goo (PC). It takes a simple concept and builds a puzzle game around it, part bridge builder and part Lemmings. The free demo is probably the best way to understand why I think it's great.

I bought Wheelman (PS3) and Flock (PC) yesterday. I'm excited for both, but time will tell if they live up to my expectations.