Unfettered Blather

A pretty slim month overall, but anyone following along so far should be able to figure out why. Despite the selection, I was disappointed for the most part. Gears of War did not live up to its hype and Project Gotham Racing 3 turned out to be surprisingly boring. My one bright shining spot, the new game from Penny Arcade, turned out to be far less than I would have hoped. Oh well, next month is Mass Effect and Dead Rising, so I can only go up from here!

GAME OF THE MONTH Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
No hard decisions here! Just look at what follows and it should be clear why Oblivion wins this month.

BEST OF THE MONTH
	#1 Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (X360) A fine RPG, but perhaps the first in the Elder Scrolls series that does not surpass its predecessor. I appreciate trying to simplify some aspects of the system and also addressing the lousy console controls, particularly the menus, from the previous game. While I have not played the PC version of Oblivion I played Morrowind on both the PC and X-Box and it never quite translated well to the console platform. Oblivion actually plays great on the 360, but suffers from taking a giant step backwards in terms of story. Still one of the finest RPG’s available on a console.
	#2 Surf’s Up (Wii) Not a bad kid’s game at all, though it can get repetitive fast. I think it could take advantage of the Wii controls better, but I do appreciate that it doesn’t contrive ways to waggle.
	#3 Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - The Shivering Isles (X360) An expansion to Oblivion that includes the two Expansion Packs that were released on the PC. Adds new quests and items, but really plays inside the same game “world” as Oblivion, which also means this is not a stand-alone product. A pretty good investment considering what it adds and personally I think it’s worth getting this or the Game of the Year addition with everything just so you don’t have to mess with the DRM nonsense.
	#4 Penny Arcade Adventures Episode 1: On the Rainslick Precipice of Darkness (X360) A Japanese RPG style game done by a couple of American webcomic authors. Not all that I hoped it would be. It mashes together everything that is wrong with real-time and turn-based combat and suffers from some of the most annoying flaws I’ve ever seen. That’s a shame because the writing is brilliant and the atmosphere is so thick you can almost feel it whisping past you when you play.
	#5 Gears of War (X360) More like “Gears of Bore”. Whew! Glad I got that out of my system. Perhaps this is one of those games like Rainbow Six Vegas 2 that just seems better in co-op, but the single-player campaign has largely been an exercise in tedium. They give you a bunch of neat guns and abilities, but you really spend most of your time just sniping dudes from cover until they stop spawning. This is a game that gives you some cool stuff like chainsaw bayonets or one of the most kick-ass shotguns I’ve ever seen in a game and then gives you very few opportunities to use them. The hype seems really overblown even though everyone I know seems to love it.
	#6 Project Gotham Racing 3 (X360) One of my most high cardinal sins for a videogame is boredom. If the game bores me then it can’t be very good. In a hi-octane racer that last thing I expect to be bored. On Easy the game is ridiculously simple to breeze through, but on the harder difficulties it seems like the AI is cheating. That is in races you actually race other cars. A majority of the game is spent doing time trials or cone challenges, which just seems weird when you have “Racing” in the title. I guess Project Gotham Drive Through a Bunch of Cones doesn’t get that same three letter acronym feel to it.

BEST SO FAR

1. Portal (X360)
2. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (X360)
3. Guitar Hero II (X360)
4. Crackdown (X360)
5. Endless Ocean (Wii)
6. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)
7. Halo 3 (X360)
8. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (X360)
9. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (X360)
10. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (X360)

WORST SO FAR

1. Call of Duty 3 (Wii)
2. Road Trip: Arcade Edition (GCN)
3. Carnival Games (Wii)
4. Yaris (X360)
5. Virtual On Marz (PS2)
6. Hexic HD (X360)
7. Pac-Man: Championship Edition (X360)
8. Bankshot Billiards 2 (X360)
9. Small Arms (X360)
10. Two Worlds (X360)

YOU’RE OUT OF THE RUNNING
And now we bid farewell to those games that won’t make either list.

• Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - The Shivering Isles (X360)
  As an expansion pack it really doesn’t get started on a good foot. Not that I haven’t played some excellent expansions in my day but we’re talking exceptional material here. A good extension of the Oblivion core game, but considering Oblivion just barely made the top ten, what chance did this have?
• Gears of War (X360)
  What would this unseat? I feel like Rainbow Six Vegas 2 is much the same kind of game but with more variety and a better control interface. I like what they tried to do and I think it’s obvious to see the influence it has had on other games. That said, the game could have been a lot more engaging. Also, I don’t want to hear anyone from Epic talk about graphics on the Wii when their game’s color palette is barely one step above a black and white movie.
• Half-Life 2: Episode 2 (X360)
  I like the Half-Life series and I’ve enjoyed what they’ve done with Half-Life 2, but the series is getting very repetitive at this point. I haven’t finished this episode yet, mainly because I’m getting a little tired of the series. Maybe if they’d do something new. I understand there is some cool stuff to do and see towards the end of the game, but here’s the problem. If I have to play a game beyond the point I would normally give up on it to see the cool stuff then you’ve done something wrong. I have other games I’d like to play and the idea of slogging in the hopes things will get better doesn’t seem like a good use of my limited game time.
• Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii)
  It held on as long as it could. If the controls had been better executed I think this game would have stayed in the Top 10. While fun in its own right, it also stands as an example of why the Wii controls can be problematic.
• Penny Arcade Adventures Episode 1: On the Rainslick Precipice of Darkness (X360)
  I find it difficult to make Penny Arcade’s debut go straight to the dustbin. As a $20 game it really is worth every penny, but the poor control schemas and difficult to read text, not to mention a very unintuitive combat system, just work too much against the game for it to unseat anything in the Top 10. I like the game and the writing surpasses Portal, which is a feat I’d think was nigh impossible for a videogame. There are some good ideas at work, but future releases need to address some of the issues. I’m also afraid that if you’re not a fan of the comic the game may not hold much appeal.
• Project Gotham Racing 3 (X360)
  Solidly mediocre, not bad enough to get on the worst list but nowhere close to the best.
• Surfs Up (Wii)
  While this is not bad for a licensed game it’s not going to bump anything from the list.

MAY STATISTICS -
Average Cost: $14.17
Wii - 1 Title (16.7%)
X-Box 360 - 5 Titles (83.3%)
6 Titles

STATISTICS SO FAR -
Average Cost: $16.16 per game
Gamecube - 5 Titles (6.3%)
PC - 1 Title (1.3%)
Playstation 2 - 10 Titles (12.5%)
Wii - 13 Titles (16.3%)
X-Box - 15 Titles (18.8%)
X-Box 360 - 36 Titles (45%)
80 Titles

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