I hate tombs...

Come on, tell me where that line is from.

Okay, if you don't know, I'll just tell you: the new Tomb Raider game! Which I've played through, beginning to end. Which I completed with 96% completion rate (which is pretty darn good for me, since I'm not usually a must-do-everything kind of gamer). Which I have completely and totally fallen in love with.

I love the character of Lara in this game. She really grows up in this game, and watching the character learn to deal with every new obstacle is enthralling. I was completely caught up in the emotion she experienced when she killed a man for the first time, when her best friend was taken from her, when she shifts from hating tombs to loving the adventure.

I loved the gameplay as well. As I played, I realised just how much of this felt like the mechanics could have come straight out of an Uncharted game. The climbing and jumping around, especially with exotic backgrounds and dizzying heights, felt particularly familiar. Yet, even with the similarities, Tomb Raider was able to maintain its own identity, and still be unique. Probably the most noteworthy point is that Nick Drake gets to run all over the world, escaping to a new location whenever things get dull. Lara is stuck on the island, and so the designers are pressed even harder to make sure even areas that have already been explored are still interesting for players.

And the bow. Oh, I love that bow Lara gets. That has got to be the best damn weapon in the whole game. I'm almost tempted to go back through the game only using the bow, and not the guns (except for areas where it's required to move forward), and see how I do. (Note I said almost. Parts of this game were really hard, and I don't think I'd survive long without the pistol in my hand!)

So, other than one little bug (which was nearly gamebreaking, but thankfully a bug-within-a-bug lets you get past it), I found this to be one of the best games I've played in a long time. It was incredible.

Although, thanks to the other half, I now have his proposed idea in my head: Lara Croft and Nathan Drake in a video game adventure together. Please? Pretty please? Would probably be the best game ever...

Diablo: the game and its comic counterpart

Sometimes I write articles for the Proud Lion blog. Most recently, I wrote an article comparing the five-part comic series based on Diablo, and the popular game that inspired it. To check it out, click me!

You can check out the main blog by clicking me instead!

The Cave: Awesome

I got to play through an awesome new game called The Cave. It's on just about every platform out there, so chances are good you'll be able to play it no matter what tech you've got. And you should. Because it's awesome. (Note: This post is, I believe, spoiler-free.)

You choose three of seven possible characters who have to navigate their way through the puzzle-filled cave. Each character has a special ability and a backstory which you can learn over the course of the game. These special abilities allow you to solve various puzzles and get past obstacles in different ways. Admittedly I found some abilities more useful than others, but that could be entirely down to my playstyle rather than a reflection on the design.

Some of the levels are standard, and must be completed regardless of who you choose to go with you. However, half the levels in your game are specific to the characters you have chosen. For example, I chose the Adventurer, the Knight, and the Twins. Each of them had their own level in the cave that could only be solved by that character, and further explained their backstory.

The gameplay is great, the graphics are great, the stories for the characters are great. I've played through it once, and the boyfriend has played through it once. It's definitely a game that encourages people to play it multiple times though, and I have no doubt I will be doing so soon.

... But I'm still taking the Twins on my next adventure. They are awesome and creepy at the same time. Really. Definitely my favourite character(s).

Well? Go play it! Go!

Review: The Timebuilders: Pyramid Rising

As much as I love a massive game that takes me days, weeks, sometimes months to finish, I also have a weakness for casual games. These are the games that are aimed at people who don't have the time for that much concentrated gaming, or who aren't interested in playing something quite so big. Casual games seem to fill that void perfectly: the levels are short, taking only a few minutes to complete. The stories and narrative driving the game are often simple. The gameplay itself is easy to grasp, and overall the game is perfect to pick up, play a level, and put away again.

I love most of these. There's one particular genre - hidden object - that I absolutely can't stand, but otherwise I'm usually easily hooked. My personal favourites are, ironically, time management games. I like the "big name" ones - Diner Dash, Cake Mania, Build-a-Lot, etc. - but the smaller name games are fun, too.

The other day, I downloaded a time management game called The Timebuilders: Pyramid Rising. As you've probably guessed, it has an Egyptian theme to it. The basic story of the game is of an angry god who threatens to force Egypt into complete darkness. A woman named Hattie and an architect, Senenmut, plan to unify Egypt by building a great monument to appease the god Amun-Re. That's it. See? Nice and simple.

The gameplay itself initially feels like a knock-off of Build-a-Lot, a game focused on building, buying, and selling houses. However, it soon proves that, while similar in one aspect, it has its own twists and unique elements. I was pleasantly surprised as well by the challenge. The first half of the levels are easy enough, and do not take long to figure out. Once you hit level twenty, though, the difficulty ramps up, and you have to really think out your strategy on some levels to complete it in time. I found several occasions where I had to look up a strategy guide to discover the best way to finish a level quickly.

That, sadly, was one of the downfalls. I found myself looking at a guide more and more toward the last handful of levels, but not just because of the difficulty. A common fault with casual games is that, because the mechanics never really change, only the level requirements, it will eventually get boring. By the time I reached level thirty, I was starting to be very bored by the constant, unchanging actions. I wanted more and more to just finish the levels quickly, without trying several times over to get them right, purely so I could get to the end of the game. (No, it never occurred to me to just turn the game off. I was only six levels from the end, how could I possibly give up when I was that close?)

The other two issues I had with this game were minor. One was the art style in the cutscenes. I'm not a fan of the style used, which was somewhat like anime but not quite. I found myself just reading the subtitles and not paying any attention to the (static) images on the screen. (The voices were annoying, too, actually. Perhaps the game would be better as a whole without those scenes.)

The second issue was with the story. For those who know their Egyptian history well, the story of a woman seizing the throne of Egypt, dressing herself as a man, and becoming Pharaoh despite her nephew being the true heir, will sound terribly familiar. It's painfully obvious it's based on what we know of Hatshepsut, who usurped the throne from her nephew Thutmose III. In real life, this didn't go over so well with her nephew, as he had her name removed from everything he could find the minute he became Pharaoh after her death. In the game, this is turned into a pretty little suggestion by "Hattie" in order to let her nephew begin his reign with a greaty legacy already behind it. For those who don't already know this, fine, no problem, that works. Anyone with the knowledge of the story's origins may find this a little too sugar coated, as I have.***

But then, perhaps I'm being too critical of a game that is intended for light gaming, not heavy criticism. While this isn't my favourite casual game, and it's definitely getting uninstalled in about two minutes, it was enjoyable enough for the last couple days, and certainly better than some of the other rubbish games out there.


*** I'd like to point out that this is my opinion of what happened. There are plenty of people with other theories and ideas. If you're interested in seeing more about it, I would start here, and work your way down. I choose to believe the more dramatic theory on this story. Go figure.

Review: Settlers of Catan

I completely forgot to link to this! Ah well, here it is, several days after the fact, anyway. I wrote a review for The Settlers of Catan. Read it here!

Review: Ticket to Ride

I've mentioned Ticket to Ride before, yes? That post is here. On a similar vein but very different presentation, I've written a proper review for the game, which is now up on the Proud Lion blog! Go check it out!

Review: A Monster in Paris

So I wrote a film review. Completely new area for me, but luckily it was a movie I really enjoyed, so my writing came out better than I expected it to. To have a look, check it out on the Proud Lion blog!