Crash Bandicoot and Halo Wars 2

On 07/04/2017 at 11:19 PM by KnightDriver

I played my rental today, Crash Bandicoot’s N Sane Trilogy on PS4. It took me about an hour before my patience wore out. I’m sorry, but platformers task me. I don’t like repeating levels for a perfect performance. It’s just not my thing. That being said, if you love Crash, you’ll love this collection. Vicarious Visions did a great job remastering these games. They looked and played great. The games themselves are great too. They have so many creative ideas and so much variety of gameplay. I really wanted to stick with them longer. I just didn’t want to jump on another box in just such a way. These games ask you to repeat precise moves over and over. I don’t like that. I liken it to multiplayer shooters where you seem to do the same thing over and over: you circle through the never changing arena and twitch kill noobs in ever more quick and precise ways. It’s not my thing at all.

I switched to XBO and got back to Halo Wars 2 and finished the campaign. For some reason, the achievements didn’t drop for the half dozen or so levels I completed. I couldn’t figure out why, but I think I’ll replay the whole game for some other achievements anyway. The cut scenes in this game are pretty great. I mean, the story is predictable, but it’s really well executed and designed. I got caught up in watching them closely in between levels. Some of the levels themselves were less RTS and more tower defense in nature, which surprised me in a positive way. In my second play through, I think I’ll try to get some of the bonus objectives.

That’s a July 4^th. I played the games mentioned above. Then I went to work for three hours. Then I saw some fireworks, spotted what I think was an official police drone flying overhead, and had some ice cream. I guess that wasn’t too bad a day.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

07/05/2017 at 12:42 AM

"Twitch Kill Noobs" - Great band name.

KnightDriver

07/05/2017 at 10:36 PM

I like it as a song title from a band like Five Finger Death Punch.

Super Step Contributing Writer

07/05/2017 at 02:32 AM

I think I'd like Crash. I love doing mindless bullshit over and over until I'm finally good at it. It's my favorite thing about playing guitar!

I have started to enjoy games that are much less intense physically and more about emotional investment or puzzles though. I think my need to relax as an adult has made me soft in some ways.

I had some ice cream as well. We ate at Red Lobster after seeing guardians 2. No fireworks for me aside from a distant glimpse on the highway and some noises outside my Windows though. I kinda wish we'd have gone to see some. Oh well.

07/05/2017 at 10:34 PM

I was wondering how kids put up with such mindless repetition. Sometimes I think it's just a different mindset that's needed, or a different personality. I'm not the type who can repeat things a lot. I did some of that in music, but I had a teacher once who wanted me to do these incredibly boring scales all up and down the fret board, and I was not up for that.

07/06/2017 at 12:51 AM

Yeah, to be honest I probably play songs a lot more than practice stuff like that, but I will tolerate the boring stuff like finger exercises because of how it helps with playing songs.

With video games like platformers or rythm-action like Elite Beat Agents, I might be repeating the same actions a lot, but it's the adrenaline rush of getting it more and more right and the tension that hook me, not the repetition.

It's the increasing success part that makes the repetition addictive for me. That means the activity feels less repetitive for me, since I'm enjoying the change in my abilities.

A game like Halo Wars 2 would actually feel more repetitive to me, because it would just be failure over and over again, since I don't easily succeed in such games.

I think that might have more to do with it than simply game mechanics. If I was good at RTS, I might feel differently and maybe vice versa for you with platformers.

07/06/2017 at 11:08 PM

I loved scales when I played the classical guitar probably because everything sounds wonderful on that instrument, even boring exercises. But on bass, I would make set lists and play along with the songs, learning them as I went.

It was the bonus levels in Crash that got to me. They were 2D and very short. I also hate the way jumping is done in a lot of platformers all the way up to Braid. I hate that you can't grab an edge if you just miss, and that only a perfect jump will do. That drives me crazy. But patience is a virtue, I'm told. Perhaps I should work on it in a zen buddhist type of way.

Cary Woodham

07/05/2017 at 12:24 PM

I love platformers, but I've never been a big fan of Crash. I just find that other platformers, like Kirby and Mega Man, are better.

07/05/2017 at 10:21 PM

The only one I've really been able to get into is Donkey Kong Country. I think I might like the Banjo Kazooie games, but I haven't gotten to them yet.

goaztecs

07/12/2017 at 11:37 AM

Soulds like a solid Fourth of July. Police drone is interesting, I don't think I've heard of the police utilizing a drone but I live in a small town. It makes sense when there are big crowds.

Crash is one of those games I like but I can wait to play. Hopefully it goes on sale during Black Friday so I can get a copy, play through it, and then give it to my younger cousins.

07/12/2017 at 08:12 PM

I was just thinking the other day, as I repeated a level in Kane & Lynch 2 about a dozen times, I don't necessarily dislike repetition. I think it's those jumping mechanics in 2D platformers. It's always the jumping that drives me bananas.

PixlBit