Brütal Legend First Impressions

Last year I attended an event called Day of the Devs in San Francisco. A company named Double Fine teamed up with other local video game developers for a showcase for upcoming games. It was cool seeing stuff that would not normally be stocked on retail shelves, and it was a chance to get a game I bought years ago to be signed by Double Fine founder Tim Schafer. Since I need to catch up on my game backlog, here’s an explanation of why I liked the first experience with the last full priced retail game Schafer’s studio produced.

Enslaved First Impressions

Before Naughty Dog and Sony Santa Monica released their action titles for the PlayStation 3, a studio in the United Kingdom brought an action game to the system. The title showed promise of what the developers at Ninja Theory were capable. I was pleased to hear that the next title from the company would be a multiplatform action adventure title based on an ancient Chinese epic. While the acting and story engaged me during the first few chapters I played, my experience with other action titles of this generation left me thinking that Enslaved: Odyssey to the West was a good but not great video game in its genre.

Bioshock First Impressions

Irrational Games is one of the best development studios out there. In 1999 they made System Shock 2, a hybrid first person shooter/role playing game set in a creepy science fiction universe, and even now many consider it to be a challenging game with immersive environments, an engaging story, and a sense that the player’s choice uniquely affects how you actually play. Bioshock as a spiritual successor maintains that engagement and atmosphere years later in a completely new environment. A brief stint with the beginning of the game is evidence enough of that.

Alpha Protocol First Impressions

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Role playing games are one of my favorite genre of video games. When I’m not min-maxing my character stats, I can spend hours just exploring the world and talking with the characters in it. I was looking forward to Obsidian Entertainment’s original product ever since they got the Game Informer April 2008 cover story. Unfortunately, the game finally released in 2010 to a mixed critical reception. I picked up an Xbox 360 copy of the game for $5, and I just tried to play through a few of the beginning missions to see why people on the internet claimed Alpha Protocol was a much better RPG experience than the action-heavy Mass Effect series for instance. I sort of understand why the game didn’t provide the action people were expecting, but like other Obsidian-developed titles, I really enjoy the writing that puts the narrative above others for a mature title.

Batman: Arkham Asylum First Impressions

As part of a charity drive, I was asked to donate some of my video games to a local organization to reward youth for bringing in contributions. I always seem to have some video games enclosed in their wrappers, and one of the games I gave away was Batman: Arkham Origins for the Xbox 360. I figured I messed up because I preordered the collectors edition that included a DVD copy of a movie that I could have acquired on Blu-ray if I preordered the PS3 version of the game. Either way, I still have not finished the other Arkham titles, so I figured I should talk about my experience with them before trying out what appears to be a more mediocre sequel in the franchise.