Bite Size 2008: Except, Now It’s 2009

Bite Size 2008 is my wrap-up of moments in games from the past calendar year. The last post in the series, I look into the crystal ball and try to see my gaming future. Check out this listing for the rest of my Bite Size 2008 posts!

Playing Through Classics

I had a span of time in my life where I played literally nothing but JRPGs and watched a shit ton of anime. I played a few other games, but not too many, and those that I did tended to come out of Japan. While the Final Fantasies and Star Oceans were nice then, I missed out on a lot. Hell, I even missed out on JRPGs because I spent most of my attention on Final Fantasy games. Late in the PS2 life cycle, when people started buying Xbox 360s and I was down in the dumps because I could not afford one, I started playing catch up, and I got into the God of War games, and Shadow of the Colossus, and some others, however, this quest was hampered by my purchase of a 360 to call my own. So, with a still growing list of games I should have played, and a bit of a drought in the beginning of 2009, I will be playing some classics. If you look to the “Currently Playing” bar on the right, you’ll see I’ve got Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, Metal Gear Solid and Half-Life all in there. I grabbed 2/3 of the Sands of Time trilogy as well as Metal Gear 2: Substance and 3: Subsistence during a recent Gamestop sale for 25% off used PS2 games, MGS off of eBay, and HL during the anniversary sale on Steam where it was only a dollar. I’m also going to be borrowing a copy of Hitman: Agent 47 for the PC from a friend of mine so I can check that out as well. I’ve got plenty of catching up to do, but really, I’m not complaining.

 

2008: The Asteroid Belt Year in Gaming

Yes, an asteroid belt. There were big titles and small titles flying by, and you could only hit so many of them. I tried to play all that I could, but I still lagged behind. I started Dead Space in 2008, and it just came to me from Gamefly yesterday, so I plan on finishing it in 2009. I never even got around to touching Mirror’s Edge, Saint’s Row 2, or Far Cry 2. Since Far Cry has seen a price drop recently, I expect that one to be the first one I see of those. I did manage to start and finish the new Prince of Persia in five or six days though, which was interesting considering I was playing Sands of Time right before that. I’d also like to sink my teeth into a PS3 this year, although the purist in me will scour eBay for a 60 GB looking for a new home, since I’d like Emotion Engine backwards compatibility. When that day comes, though, I’ll look forward to playing all of it’s big hits: MGS4 (providing I’ve made it through the others at that point), LittleBigPlanet, Heavenly Sword, Uncharted, etc. The theme of 2009 for me seems to be “Playing Catch-Up”. It’s where I’ll probably see the most bang for my buck in my Gamefly membership.

 

Downloadable to my Heart’s Content

There’s plenty of downloadable content coming out in these next few months to get me back into my favorites of 2008. I just finished up the Knothole Island DLC today for Fable 2. That was a bit of a wash, with one achievement that required three hours of slaying civilians and sleeping in order to get a certain vendor to spawn selling a certain item. That was a pain in the ass, but I also felt like I was robbed out of my $10. I actually felt like the Jedi Temple DLC for Star Wars carried a little more weight than this. I won’t let that spoil DLC for me, since I still have the three packs of Fallout 3 DLC, as well as The Lost and the Damned for GTA4, and some DLC apparently coming for Left 4 Dead as well. There’s some MSP spent across the board, so let’s hope it’s all worth the points.

 

 

What the Calendar Year Holds

Well, I already know I won’t be seeing a Final Fantasy this year, so there’s about 100 hours of my life that I get to retain in 2009, but I’ve already stated enough other projects to keep me busy. This year looks to have some interesting titles, but nothing even in the realm of the Fallout 3/Fable 2/GTA4 caliber. Sure, Resident Evil 5 is going to be good, but it is hard to be the sequel to one of the greatest games of all time. Lord of the Rings: Conquest just hit this week, and I’ll be checking that out, though I’m afraid it won’t have the same type of impact that Star Wars: Battlefront 2 did. My friend Joe and I have spent countless hours playing Battlefront 2. We love it so much, when I hooked my PS2 up to my LCD via component cables, and the LCD started dropping the signal during battles to the point where it was unplayable, I ended up buying an Xbox copy so we could play it on the 360 and it’s HDMI cable. There’s always the looming possibility that Battlefront III will be released, but I’m not getting my hopes up for that. If I get that PS3 I’m looking towards, then there’s Killzone 2 and Uncharted 2 coming along for that. However, that’s all dreams and aspirations, so who knows where that is in the grand scheme of things. Let’s hope 2009 brings another good year, even if things don’t look so hot now.

 

Done with this series! With the new semester starting, maybe I’ll have some insightful commentary on… something. Cheers, let’s have a good year of gaming.

Bite Size 2008: Lasting Impressions

Bite Size 2008 is my wrap-up of moments in games from the past calendar year. This is the grand poo-bah of the series with my memories of my favorite games of the year. All of these experiences comprise some of the most fun I’ve had playing videogames in the year, and roughly the most of my gaming life. These aren’t in any order, because if you were to ask me to pick just one, I could not. Check out this listing for the rest of my Bite Size 2008 posts!

Reloading!

The Left 4 Dead demo did exactly what a demo should do for a game: it got my friends and I excited to play it. The day the demo hit the marketplace, the first question on everyone’s lips was to ask whether the rest of us had downloaded the demo. We spent a night that weekend playing the demo on split-screen, passing around the controllers. Everyone got a turn, and everyone loved it. I know the game is primarily made for online multiplayer, but a social multiplayer event like we had is something to show the game’s merits. It’s just as much fun to watch as it is to participate in a scenario. Although only one of those friends and I ended up ponying up the cash for the full retail game, it’s still fun to have a couple of people over enjoying the game and the entertainment that it is able to provide.

 

 

Welcome Back to Your Old Home

I’ve already written about Fable II, and so have tons of other people across the web.I’ve commented on the narrative and the characters and the matter of choice. Nowhere did the matters of choice become so prevalent as they did when I swung off the market square in Bowerstone and headed for Bowerstone Old Town. (Spoiler ahead) When my character was simply Little Sparrow, I made the choice to return the deeds, and help the police officer clean up the area. When I returned many years later, I found that the city was bright and sparkling, and the envy of all of Bowerstone. The vendors all cut me significant discounts (which I abused thanks to a General Store shortage), and I was glad to see that the deeds that I did had ramifications that changed an entire city area. It was because of this I saved up until I could buy my first house in the game in Bowerstone Old Town, just because I felt like it was where my character belonged. These were his streets, his people. It gave me a sense of belonging in the world that few other RPGs recreate.

 

Peace Out Playboy

The theme of the year was freedom of choice in videogames. It was a mantra we heard so many press events and developer interviews spout, we hardly had a choice but to hear it. In a year where narrative really took center stage, and allowed the players to shape their worlds in their own manners, the role of the characters in games became even more prominent. Some of my favorite characters of the year came out of Grand Theft Auto IV. My friends and I still quote lines from Roman and Little Jacob, even though most of us finished the game months ago. Almost all of us picked it up on release day, or shortly thereafter. However, I still remember the night we all gathered at our local diner and the conversation came to GTA. Most specifically, whether we killed Dwayne or Playboy X. While we were split (and some of us going so far as to say there was a “right” answer), it showed that games could create a real sense of realism in how we believed these characters. Niko Bellic and company showed us what some real human emotion can do for a story, and it brought my friends and I back to these same discussions every time we had to make a choice like this in the game. Despite some frustrating missions, this was truly one of the best gaming experiences I’ve ever had.

 

Breaking into the Shed was a Bad Idea

I’ve already mentioned that I almost hated Fallout 3. Then, I turned around and showed my love for it by creating an in-depth character planning sheet. I may have knocked it a bit when comparing it to Fable II, but when it all comes down to it, I have nothing but love for Fallout 3 and it is easily my #1 game of the year. The world had a lot to see and a lot to do, and it really rewarded players who had that little bit of gumption to color outside the lines, as Mitch Krpata pointed out recently. What I enjoyed was stumbling a little town on the map called Andale. Located in the central Southern area of the map, Andale is a small town with a few buildings, and a couple of families worth of inhabitants with an extremely bright outlook on life. To them, Andale is the best place in the world. However, you realize how far wrong they are once you enter the shed in the backyard. It gives you a glimpse of how people are surviving in the Capital Wastelands, and what it takes for some of them to make ends meet. At that point, you feel sorry for them, and for everyone else in the Wastes since you see how hard it is for people to survive. Moments like these made Fallout 3 an engaging game, and my game of the year.

Next: What 2009 will bring for me, if nothing else.

Review: Fallout 3 (Three Dog is my Homeboy)

[I know I’m a little late in the game here as far as reviews go, since anyone who is anyone has already posted theirs, but I feel as though my thoughts on the game have to go somewhere, and this is my place for musings on games. After finishing a conversation with my friend Josh on Fallout 3, as I had just finished and he was just about to begin, I began to think a lot about the game, and this is where I get the opportunity to spin those thoughts into written words.]

The latest from the minds at Bethesta Softworks, creators of 2006’s Game of the Year The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is a continuation of the Fallout franchise, formerly by Black Isle Studios. Fallout 3 places you in the role of the Lone Wanderer from Vault 101. After your father escapes the Vault, a sudden string of events occurs which leads you out into the wastelands formerly surrounding Washington D.C. in search of him, and some answers.

I was ready to hate Fallout 3. The expansiveness of the world just overwhelmed me. At least in Grand Theft Auto IV, another one of this year’s hits promising a world open for exploration, parts of the world were locked to me, and I was limited in what I could explore and what I could do. The burden of an open world wore heavy on my back, and I was about to break under pressure. However, I did not. Instead, I gave the game another shot and let myself venture forth into the Capital Wasteland and never looked back.

I’ve never played another Fallout game, so the experience for me was something really new. Although the game was rooted in the Gamebryo engine from Oblivion, I would not pull out the “Oblivion with guns” comparison right from the start. Aside from the glitches that the engine has brought about, which could be a whole post unto themselves, you’ll find that the implementation of the engine works well for post-apocalyptia.

The world of Fallout 3 is not the world of Oblivion, nor is it the world of the America we know today. This is an entirely different world, with an entirely new set of problems. Problems from the raiders, to vampires, to ghouls, and men in powerful armored suits. You, as the Lone Wanderer, shape this world. By your hands will cities prosper or fade; will life flourish or die out; will those around you respect you or abhor you. Fallout 3 is very much greater than the sum of its parts. The game goes to great lengths to make sure that these old facets of the Fallout world do not feel forced in, and instead that they are all an extension of this universe created by Black Isle Studios. You will trek the world of Fallout 3 with your dog or companion, and your gun, using it to carve yourself a place in the annals of American history.

You can play it from a first- or third-person perspective, but these are usually simply for traversing the world, as your dialogue will always put you in a first-person view where you observe the person you are talking to standing in front of you as a mannequin as you dig through the sometimes-overly-textualized dialogue trees. You are also in first-person mode to view your Pip-Boy, the wrist computer that acts as your menu system. The method of navigating the Pip-Boy is more awkward at times than it needs to be, and I often found myself pressing the trigger when I wanted the d-pad. Outside of these instances, however, you can run and gun your way through the D.C. area in the viewpoint of your choice.

However, worth noting here that this game is not, by any means, a shooter in any sense of the word. It is primarily an RPG after all, and this is when the game actually becomes “Oblivion with guns”, except add to that the Vault Assisted Targeting System, or V.A.T.S., a pseudo-bullet-time system that allows you to aim your shots at specific body parts, as the primary method of combat. Free aiming in this game is relatively pointless next to V.A.T.S., as your skill with a gun is still based on numbers, and as a result, you’ll often find yourself angry that a direct shot did not affect your enemy. In fact, free aiming is near useless anywhere other than point-blank range when you’re pointing at their chest. However, V.A.T.S. is not perfect, as often times, an enemy will run towards you, past the end of the barrel of your gun, and your shots will not have that 95% accuracy they claimed to have moments ago.

The story in Fallout 3 is an interesting one once the ball gets rolling, as your quest to find your father leads you all across the Capital Wasteland, meeting all sorts of interesting people. is an incredibly huge investment as far as gaming goes. Judging by the number of story missions, additional missions, unique items, and sidequests that can be taken on by the player, one can expect to clock anywhere from 25 to 100 hours in the game. Some of the missions are interesting while others amount to simple fetch quests, but that is an inherent design flaw for the role-playing genre, so it is hard to hold it against a single game. For the most part, Fallout 3 does a good job of managing the quests and making sure you’re not doing the same uninteresting things too often.

Overall, Fallout 3 is a highly enjoyable game that fans of role-playing games are bound to enjoy. You’re bound to run into a glitch here or there, so saving often is very wise. Having a story with enough twists and turns to stay interesting, and enough missions and activities off the main path to keep the adventure going even longer, it’s hard to say you’re not going to get the most bang for your buck in this one. With achievements and trophies that reward you for playing as good, neutral or bad, there’s more than enough reason to go through the game more than once. The recently announced downloadable content for 2009 give the game even more of a chance to shine over time. In the current state of the economy, it is hard to say no to a game with so much potential for endless hours of entertainment.

Fallout 3 is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

[Fallout 3 was played on the Xbox 360 for 70+ hours, completing all missions. Ratings subject to personal impressions and experiences and are not to be taken as an objective statement. Ratings scale consists of (1) Not recommended, (2) Mediocre, (3) Alright, (4) Good, (5) Highly Recommended]

Fallout 3 + Excel = Awesome

UPDATE 11-29: Over 400 downloads! Thanks everyone!

So, instead of blogging about videogames, or blogging about writing papers about videogames, I’ve been playing videogames. A novel concept, really. What have I been playing? Well, the usual Rock Band 2 with friends and family, as well as the new Left 4 Dead demo, but the real time-sink is that gem of the capital wasteland, Fallout 3.

While playing Fallout 3, and leveling up my character, I can’t help but let my mind wander to all the different possibilities of what I can do with my character. I’ve decided I want to start a new game with a guy geared toward being a Ninja. Since nearly every enemy in the game has a gun, this would make for some interesting gameplay. With all these ideas, I wanted some kind of chart where I could plot out my skills and perks and get an outline of my character. Such things exist for Diablo II and Too Human, but I could not find such a thing for Fallout 3. The obvious solution was to make my own.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you…

> > > DOWNLOAD v1.2 HERE < < <
Requires: Microsoft Excel ‘97-07 or Open Office 2

You plug in some info, and get an idea of how to level your character up. Breakdown of what each section is:

• Section A: Character information. This is where you enter your name and level. The level is used to calculate the amount of skill points available. Below the level lists your derived stats, all of them dynamically updated based on values from your S.P.E.C.I.A.L stats and perks.
  New in v1.2: Gender selection! Not a big difference, but it’s there.
• Section B: S.P.E.C.I.A.L. attributes. You set the values in the “Lvl.” row to the values you chose at the beginning of the game. Additional bonuses from bobbleheads and perks will automatically be added, and represented by the green number in the column to the right.
• Section C: Skills. Select your tag skills in the “Tag” column. Number of Tagged skills available shown at the bottom of the column. The “Mod” column contains any modifications from bobbleheads and perks. In the “Lvl. Up” column, you fill in the value for the amount of points you will put into that skill. Total points available shown at the bottom of the column. The “Final” column totals up the previous three columns for your total skill. (Note: Since there are 2 books for each skill in the game, as well as equipment that affects stats, it is not recommended to have the final value for any skill higher than 80, according to many sources)
  New in v1.2: Skill books section has been added.
• Section D: Bobbleheads. Select “Yes” from the drop down list next to the attribute/skill to denote if you have that bobblehead, and you will gain the corresponding bonus.
  New in v1.2: Bobblehead total now displays in the title tab for the section.
• Section E: Perks. Select the rank from the drop down list next to the perk name (or input the desired rank by hand), and any necessary values in skills/attributes will be reflected immediately. If a skill does not have a stat bonus, a brief description of the bonus will appear in the “Additional Bonuses” box (H) at the bottom.
  New in v1.2: Perks that you do not meet the requirements for are slashed out.
• Item F: This is just an example of the arrow for the drop-down lists used in the sheet, as well as the information box that will pop up for skills, perks, attributes, etc. The box can be moved around the page as you see fit.
  New in v1.2: Requirements for the perks now display in the pop-up box. More detail available for quest-related perks.
• Section G: Quest related perks. These are the quest-related perks in the game, and the info box tells you what quest you acquire the perk in.
  New in v1.2: More detail available in the pop-up box for for quest-related perks.
• Section H: Additional bonuses box. See section E.

It’s all as simple as putting numbers into the appropriate places and watching the sheet calculate the rest.

It is currently formatted so it prints on one landscape-oriented sheet with all data visible, so you can print it out and have it by your side while playing.

Note: The sheet is password protected, so report any changes that need to be made in the comments here.

Version History

• 11/13/08 - 1.0 – Private tests
• 11/15/08 - 1.1 – Online launch! Tell your friends!
• 11/29/09 – 1.2
• See above for specific section changes in v1.2.
• All text that can be edited by the player is now in blue.
• Here and Now perk was calculating wrong, see issues below.
• Various aesthetic tweaks, as well as condensing the size so it prints better.

Known Issues:

• The Survivor perks from the Wasteland Survival Guide have a lot of different sub-options based on how you respond throughout the quest, and I just don't feel like working that in right now.
• Large amounts of bonuses in the “Additional Bonuses” box may not display until the sheet is saved and re-loaded. Just an issue with Excel pulling data from too many different cells at once.
• The Here and Now perk is stupid and you shouldn't select it in the first place, but I can't get it to automatically add 1 to your level*, so if you pick this perk, just add 1 to your level and kick yourself for wasting a perk. Leveling in this game is not that hard where you should need this. Use the Big Town glitch or Difficulty trick if you want a level quickly.
• This was created in Excel 2007 and saved in “Compatibility Mode” for Excel 97-03. The error reporter came back with comments mostly related to formatting, but if anything does not calculate properly or just seems generally out of whack, please leave a comment.

> > > DOWNLOAD v1.2 HERE < < <

Requires: Microsoft Excel ‘97-07 or Open Office 2

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