PixlBit

I got through a lot combining the end of last week's and all of this week's gaming. I'm clearly not going for complete runs. I just play to revisit and go as far as I stay interested. Here's the lot on Xbox 360:

Oblivion - i love just wandering around in Cyrodiil. I didn't fast travel until I started retreading old paths, so it was a lot of walking and taking on side dungeons along the way to the main quest. I created a High Elf Bard at max age (I did all this randomly) and began the mage's guild quests before trying to tackle that first Oblivion Gate. I also used bow and arrow a lot when not in dungeons, something I've never done before.

I managed to get killed in one dungeon because i tried to pickpocket an armored female warrior at the end of it just because I could and also because I didn't know if she was friendly or not. It was a moment of weakness, I suppose, but she didn't take kindly to my appologies and ran me through.

I continued on though and stopped when I had trouble getting a mage staff back for the Bravil Mage's Guild. I've done this quest before, but this time I gave up on it. When I return to the game, I'll push through it. I kind of know what I need to do now. 

Bioshock Infinite - I played on hard but it was very hard, so I lowered the difficulty. I played a good while but everything became so familiar, I decided to stop. I mean, I've played this game all the way through several times. I probably ruined it for myself by going for achievements and doing every darn thing, and hunting every last corner of the game. I need a new goal, I guess, and higher difficulty is just too frustrating to be fun. 

Gears of War 2 - Gears 2 is great, but I'm on a higher difficulty kick in games right now, and I just can't get past the part where you shoot from a moving platform at flying locust. I was fine in regular fights, but this on-rails segment is tricky. You have limited time and the enemies are bullet sponges. 

Rock Band 2 - I really liked this (Alice in Chains' Man in a Box, a favorite) but I didn't stay with it long this time because the songs are arranged in short setlists attached to gigs at specific venues. You end up repeating songs fairly often to open up new ones, unlike the first Rock Band which just gives you the entire list to play through. It's cool though, I'll just spend more time with it another time. 

Portal: Still Alive - I had to redownload this because I'd put my Orange Box away. I played until the puzzling urge faded, which is usually not that long. I noticed in a youtube video on "God Tier" Steam games (highest rated with 100K reviews) that both Portals were in the top ten or so still. Wow. 

Super Meat Boy - I got a little farther but just no. Repeating a level over three or so times is just not were my fun lives. What's with Bandage Girl? Do you play as her later on? Is Meat Boy damaged in some way that needs fixing? He certainly bleeds all over everything. 

Borderlands 2 - I have a love/hate relationship with the Borderlands series right now. A particular bugaboo I have with it is running out of ammo all the time. I find it hugely frustating to be forced to switch weapons so often during a fight. I played until I raged over this, which was a farily long time actually. 

Plants Vs. Zombies - I have the physical disc with this, but because I already owned it digitally, it wouldn't let me play from the disc at all (neither Peggle or Zuma on the disc). The other issue was that I couldn't reset my Adventure mode progress in the digital version to restart it. I deleted my save file and everything, but it seemed to be attached to my user account and wouldn't reset. I tried the late level I had there a few times to try and make progress but without success. I really wanted to start from scratch, but you have to beat Adventure mode to replay it. What kind of stupid thing is that? I guess I'll just wait 'til I play the remaster later this year. 

Castlevania Symphony of the Night - I think I got this for free way back on Xbox Live or something. I keep trying and dying. I got a little farther this time though. That's a thing. 

Dead Space - So love this and played on medium difficulty, the default, instead of easy like last time. It's totally manageable, and I'm a fan now of default mode again because the tension is just right. I got stuck on a zero-g area that has you go a long twisted path with limited O2. I was just not into solving it this time. I feel like this is the Resident Evil-like game for me. 

Deus X: Human Revolution - I keep bouncing off this game largely because of the combat. I figured out what was bothering me about the aiming/cover system this time but enemies are quick to see and shoot you on default medium difficulty, forcing a very stealthy and tactical approach to firefights. This is not my style. Otherwise a fantastic game, just not for me. I think I'll trade this one. 

Beatles Rock Band - Probably my favorite game of the week. Playing story mode takes you through the history of the Beatles with excellent visual story telling. You play many of their hits along the way which unlock photos with additional history attached as text. I read all closely as I unlocked most of them playing on easy mode. The sound design of this game is really good with clips of related band chatter between songs.

It was really interesting playing along to the songs that I know so well. You really get inside the tunes, hearing all the guitar fills and rhythm changes that you might not have noticed just casually listening to the tracks. I played the guitar parts this time, but I'll play the bass parts next time (drums and vocals are available too). I played through all of story mode and the encore song - all really moving and satisfying to experience. It made me want to play music for real again.

I wish they would have done this treatment for many more bands than just Beatles and Green Day. I looked up all the other rhythm games that use the standard Rock Band guitar I have and put them on my wish list. There are a good number of them actually that I hope to pick up sometime. 

Peggle - This was on the PvZ disc I have but it also wouldn't play from disc because I own it digitally. So I played it digitally and unlocked a new achievement for clearing an entire screen of pegs. I played through every screen I have unlocked already again. So fun.

I found out PopCap was bought by EA in 2011 and subsequently all the original founders left the company. Since then nothing but phone versions of the top four PopCap games (PvZ, Bejewelled, Zuma and Peggle) plus the PvZ Garden Warfare multiplayer games (and PvZ remaster). I wish for a compilation disc of the many classic PopCap games for console, but it'll never happen under a bottom-line focused mega corp like EA. 

Bioshock 2 - I love playing as a Big Daddy, but this game's maths drive me crazy. By that I mean that ammo is bled out to you across all your weapons, so not one of them lasts for more than a handful of seconds in a battle, forcing you to switch around constantly. It's sort of what Borderlands does as well and it drives me nuts. Also, this whole game is kind of f'ed up - harvesting or saving kids who are trained to extract Adam (blood) from corpses and drink it (I noticed a nipple and bottle on the syringe the girls carry)? Yikes! Good game though if they'd only let me stick to a favorite weapon for five seconds. 

Purchase

Overlord - A Pikmin style game set in medieval times with hilarious dialog penned by Rhianna Pratchett, daughter of Terry and writer on the Tomb Raider reboots. I love this game and am glad to have a physical copy once again. You can buy it digitally, and I have. 

And that's all and that's a lot.