PixlBit

I got both my personal monthly quest games played today, Doughlings for my 70s Breakout-Like game, and Uncharted 2 for my Metacritic pick game. Then for Game Pass quests, I played Worms W.M.D. . 

Doughlings Arcade: 

I couldn't get past level 38 again, so I went back to earlier levels and got 3 stars on all but two between 25-38. I feel like I'm begining to gain control over the ball's direction and plan my shots a little more. 

Uncharted 2: 

I got over my annoyance about stealth gameplay and got past level 2. All I needed to do was to jump and grab an edge below the guard I was stuck on and then pull him over the side. Last time I kept alerting him by doing it, but if you do it fast enough, it works. Then I proceeded to play up to level 16 before feeling the need to mix things up with other games. I'm about to find Shambala. 

This is a great game. It's very beautiful. I'm noticing the character animation. It's a tiny bit stiff, but amazingly realistic for 2009. I think they were using motion capture back then. Clearly this was one of the best examples of mo-cap in gaming at the time. It's still pretty great even today. 

I actually got pretty good at the stealth aspect of the game today. I got a ninja medal for consecutive stealth takedowns and I began to even prefer that method when it was possible. About the toughest part for me was the hand-to-hand fighting with the villain's second in command on the train. It took a few rounds for me to notice just when to hit triangle to avoid a punch. There aren't any prompts other than a slight slow down of the action when the big punch is coming. 

So, looks like I'll be finishing it after all and staying on track with my monthly picks from Metacritic's top games list. 

Worms W.M.D.:

This may be the latest Worms game, but I'm not possitive. I played it for a Game Pass rewards quest. I played all the tutorial levels, pro tutorial levels and a few of the campaign levels. I always want to love the Worms games but the controls always annoy the heck out me. I realized today that their controls are just eccentric in a way. Different weapons and characters target and move in quirky ways that you have to get used to over time. It feels like some old school control scheme and design copied into a game with modern graphics. Well, I started to get used to it and learn it's own weird ways. It has a wonderful cartoony, hand-drawn art style I really like. I'm going to play through the campaign and then do the quest, which is to win one online match. I hope I can do it before next Tuesday when the quest ends. 

That's a day. Tomorrow I'm off so I can do my food shopping, but I may play Arkanoid DS, which I just got, inspired by Cary's report of the great music.