midlifegamer.com

Day 1 of PAX complete and I am beat. Here a few highlights:

Diablo III crushes skulls and was better than expected. Take Diablo II and put a shine on it, add more dynamics to the combat (think combo kills and better looking special attacks) I played through a desert level with the Barbarian. There was a very neat part of the game where I entered an underground section of the desert and had 2 minutes to snag all the treasure I could find. While running around the whole level was crumbling apart around me, it was a very neat effect and added a real sense of urgency to the escape and loot grabbing. Overall it was worth the wait to play.

Forza 3 looked and played fantastic. The online videos do this game no justice. It really is a giant leap in graphics. The environments looked super detailed and the rewind feature really makes the game more enjoyable. This coming from a build that was 5 months old and a car view that was (only?) running at 30 frames per second. The game looked, sounded and felt great.

Brutal Legend surprised me in that it was so funny, Jack Black did a great job with the voice work. Another cool game I saw was Torchlight, think simple Dungeon crawling loot based stuff. I was happy to hear that this game was headed for beta but scheduled for release in late October!

So far the only disappointment was Need for Speed: Shift. Probabably didnt help that I had played Forza 3 first but it just didnt feel right. Sloppy controls and just not real fun to play.

Overall great first day. Tomorrow its more time with Diablo III and the single player campaign of Starcraft II.

Monk class announced for Diablo III..

Sweet looking hand-to-hand combat class.

Can’t wait to try this!

It’s old news at this point but it looks like this:

- PS3 3.0 Firmware on the way:

- 100$ Price drop

- PS3 Slim on its way

I have been really digging Trials HD. Its a nice distraction between Champions Online patch restarts.

Yea right. A predictable cluster f*ck of slow downloads (if any download) and patcher crashes. Also, get this…

There is a “work around” where you move all kinds of files around to trick the client into installing a smaller patch.

You have to be f*cking kidding me! Who GETS PAID A GOD DAMNED WAGE AT THESE GAME COMPANYS? YOU RELEASE A BETA TEST SO BROKEN THAT I HAVE TO FIX IT?

Did you not realize that fileplanet has…F it, I’m too angry right now.

UPDATE:  Looks like a standalone patch is available. We’ll see how this ends up later.

Some interesting tidbits from the game site:

Retirement System – Once characters are sufficiently leveled up, they can “retire” and bestow specific benefits and perks to new characters.

Pets – Players will choose a pet to accompany them. Pets can level up along with the player, and will help in battle, carry items, and perform a variety of helpful services.

Fishing – Players can take a break from the high-energy pace of adventuring to visit one of the fishing holes and relax and see what they can catch. Fish have interesting benefits for the player and pet, and other rewards can also be discovered

Included Editor – Runic Games is embracing our modding community by including an editor so our players can create and design their own content.

I’m really looking forward to this game. I enjoyed Mythos and hopefully this game is similar.

So there I was considering pulling the trigger on a Champions Online lifetime subscription..then it hit me. Hellgate London. Myself along with a friend where so very excited to play Hellgate and for the first few days life was good. Into about week 2 my friend had made an interesting discovery; he had made it into a “space ship” level and when I asked him to describe it he said “it looks the same as that other level”…bland boring levels, repetitive weapon design, and shoddy multiplayer code. “But it was made by the guy that did stuff at Blizzard, so it has to be good right?”

I understand that one man does not control the fate of a whole game, but I distinctly remember considering a lifetime membership to Hellgate London. The nausieating mixture of Champions Online, Bill Roper, and a a lifetime subscription just brings on a taste of bitterness.

Here’s to hoping the upcoming beta proves me wrong.

Just started the single player campaign in Gears of War II. Wow. I was blown away by the introduction and immediately sucked into the story line. The graphics are amazing and the sound work is top notch.  I did notice some slow down of frame rates makes me wonder how they would be able to make improvements and/or pull off Gears III.

I am beginning to prefer the online functionality and feel of the 360 over my PS3.  It’s so nice just hitting a controller button and inviting friends. Hearing about the online issues with Fat Princess only reinforces this.