Sunday, June 24, 2007

Old Reliable


Let's face it, when it comes to games, the last few months have been slow. I'm talkin' Paris-Hilton-learning-lessons-the-hard-way slow. Aside from the "Halo 3" beta, which wasn't even a real game, the last few months have positively sucked. And don't give me a bunch of crap about "Shadowrun" either. If you think that's a good game, its only because your choices lately have been garbage, crap and slightly better crap.
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So what are you to do during a dry spell? What every other smart gamer does, go back to your "old reliables". These are the games you go to when you don't know what to play, if there's nothing new you want to buy, or you've gotten so tired of a game you can't even stand to look at it anymore and you're dying to trade it in. These games are always there to give you some fun, no matter how old they are or how many times you've played them. For some, its "Halo 2" (my brother Phil), for others (my buddy Eli) its "City of Heroes". Here are the games that keep me going when I have nothing else to play, share yours if you like.
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GTA: San Andreas (Xbox) - I play at least 1 new game a week and sometimes I need to get the mediocre taste out of my mouth. San Andreas is my gaming mouthwash. Running people over without consequences, flying a Harrier and shooting rockets at passing cars, basejumping, gambling - this game has it all. A great way to relieve stress is running around a huge world where you can do whatever you want.
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GTA: Vice City (Xbox) - What?!? Two GTA games, doesn't that get boring? Um..no, I play this one for a different reason. This is the funniest game I've ever played. The radio DJ's are hilarious, the dialogue is classic 80's cheesy ("Its time to do the Lance Vance dance!) and the sound track is a thing of beauty.
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Midway Arcade Treasures 2 (PS2) - This is a recent addition and the only reason I have to turn on my PS3 right now. It has a nice compilation of classic Midway games but the one I bought it for was "Cyberball 2072", which as everyone knows, is the GREATEST-ROBOTS-PLAYING-FOOTBALL-GAME-OF-ALL-TIME! It brings back a lot of memories and its still fun to play. If only it were on Xbox Live Arcade, then I could get rid of it.
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3 comments:

Eli the Mad Man said...

I'm talkin' Paris-Hilton-learning-lessons-the-hard-way slow.

LOL! Classic man.... classic! Funny you should bring up older games though. Yesterday during my recovery from the worst hangover in the world I played Chronicles of Riddick Escape from Butcher Bay for the PC. Holy crap! This is one sweet friggin' game - even 2+ years later.

Of course, it helps that while agonizing on the couch I watched Chronicles of Riddick on TNT in HD to help ease the pain. Good good movie. After it was over I wanted more bad ass ant-hero mayhem... so I booted up the game. Excellent stuff!

Dabbled with Halo 2 on Saturday. Love the story still, but holy crap... Microsoft wants THIS to be their launch vehicle for Vista and Live?! The graphics are atrocious, and the cut scenes... I've seen anime from 20 years ago that look better then this crap. It took them 3 years to port this over and THIS is what we get? Monumental disappointment.

Eli the Mad Man said...

GTA: Vice City... I have fond memories of that game (aside from it being GREAT!) because it was the game I used as a sample review when I applied for a writing position at GameDaily. Ah... good times. Might have to crack that bad boy out again too. I wonder if Vista will play nicely with it though. ;)

Anonymous said...

Oddly enough - I too have been playing GTA:SA lately. Great game, good fun. I can't wait for IV. I am hoping they swipe some of the ideas that Saints Row brought to the table...which, I thought was a great game as well.

...from previous post - I hope everything works out in your new adventures/endeavors. The Independent was my first gig when we moved out here...back in '94.

FrostyMelon