20130728:
Wow. This game is so old. I can understand why it was all the rage back when it was released, but I can't say that I enjoy the gaming experience.
In defense of the game itself, I am using a game controller and the emulator which Steam uses to run the game crashes whenever I switch windows. This bug wouldn't be a problem if I simply avoid switching windows, but it becomes an inconvenience.
[20130729]
20130729:
Despite having to start over, today I decided to give the game another go.
Every animal attacked me. Bats, wolves, etc. Perhaps a player can make a no-kill run, but I'd suggest to anybody who hasn't played before to just kill everything in sight. Perhaps the introduction suggests this as the natural course of action because Lara is seen shooting some animals in self-defense during the cut scene.
When I finished the first level, the game reported the number of kills made, pickups found, secrets discovered, and level completion time.
I don't remember, but I suspect this was the reason the game crashed the second time yesterday: accidentally hitting the Windows key. My suspicion is built upon the fact that I purposely did not alt+tab after encountering the crash the first time.
After completing the second level of the game, City of Vilcabamba, I went to Lara's Home to go through part of the tutorial. I would have gone through more, but the game sped up and became unplayable. In any case, I got far enough in the tutorial to learn some tidbits: First, when walking (hold down the shift key), Lara will not fall off the edge. This can be used to get right onto the edge of a platform for a more comfortable running start. Second, when running towards the edge of the platform, and then pressing the alt key, Lara will automatically jump when she gets to the edge of the platform.
Steam Game Time: 107 minutes (total game time)
Thoughts:
Pro:
+ Great gameplay
Neutral:
~ Classic; experience where it all started
Con:
- Might be too old for modern play; consider instead the remake Tomb Raider: Anniversary
Tomb Raider (PC) (1996)
Relevant Links:
Tomb Raider (1996 video game) (Wikipedia.org)
Tomb Raider I (Steam Store Page)
Monday, July 29, 2013
Friday, July 12, 2013
Hector: Badge of Carnage (PC) (2011)
Overview: In this point-and-click adventure, you are Hector, a police detective.
Episode 1: We Negotiate with Terrorists Initially, you are stuck in your cell and have to figure out how to get out. The story which follows primarily deals with satisfying the demands of a terrorist: fix the clock tower, shut down the porn shop, and supply the man running the information booth with whatever he desires.
Episode 2: Senseless Acts of Justice ~Yet to play.~
Episode 3: Beyond Reasonable Doom ~Yet to play.~
20130712:
Ha. This game was quite humorous.
Tip: Double-click for most things. In particular, sometimes to evolve an item, you double-click it.
The game took under 3.3 hrs to play, and that was with trying to hear as much dialogue as I could manage to hear. I estimate a speed run would take about forty-five minutes, give or take fifteen minutes.
To test this, I decided to do an impromptu speed run. Note that this speed run required clicking through dialogue and cut scenes whenever possible. Even with several mistakes, the game took me thirty-three minutes to complete. A planned speed run with knowledge of perfect dialogue trees would probably take under twenty minutes.
Faux Speed Run Mistakes:
Clicking to another area when I should have directly used the map. Imagine 5 or so seconds times 10 is one or two minutes.
You don't need to get the ticket stub and you don't need to get the brochure. While I didn't get the brochure, I did get the ticket stub.
Note that I also lost time trying to click on the heroin addict too early in the story. Though maybe I wasn't clicking correctly, I believe it is an event-activated click. I also went into the bathroom stall two or three times instead of one, because of accidentally clicking the stall instead of the exit.
I lost a lot of time on the meeting to get the 25K.
Directly asking for the pants from the guy in the station.
Faux Speed Run Successes:
Asking for the clock person's war stories.
Not ever really talking to the guy in the porn store.
Getting the jar of money before leaving the hostage area.
[20130713][20181108 Edit]
Thoughts:
As of 20181108, I don't remember enough about this game to fill out this section.
Summary:
As of 20181108, I don't remember enough about this game to fill out this section. However, I vaguely remember that I enjoyed the game to the point of desiring to play Episode 2 (and Episode 3), but I never got around to it and now there is little-to-no desire to play the second part of the story.
Hector: Badge of Carnage (PC) (2011)
Relevant Links:
Hector: Badge of Carnage (Wikipedia.org)
Hector: Badge of Carnage - Episode 1: We Negotiate With Terrorists (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
Hector: Badge of Carnage (Steam Store Page)
Episode 1: We Negotiate with Terrorists Initially, you are stuck in your cell and have to figure out how to get out. The story which follows primarily deals with satisfying the demands of a terrorist: fix the clock tower, shut down the porn shop, and supply the man running the information booth with whatever he desires.
 |
| Hector starts off in a jail cell. He's also missing pants. |
Episode 2: Senseless Acts of Justice ~Yet to play.~
Episode 3: Beyond Reasonable Doom ~Yet to play.~
20130712:
Ha. This game was quite humorous.
Tip: Double-click for most things. In particular, sometimes to evolve an item, you double-click it.
The game took under 3.3 hrs to play, and that was with trying to hear as much dialogue as I could manage to hear. I estimate a speed run would take about forty-five minutes, give or take fifteen minutes.
 |
| You'll need to visit the porn shop. |
To test this, I decided to do an impromptu speed run. Note that this speed run required clicking through dialogue and cut scenes whenever possible. Even with several mistakes, the game took me thirty-three minutes to complete. A planned speed run with knowledge of perfect dialogue trees would probably take under twenty minutes.
Faux Speed Run Mistakes:
Clicking to another area when I should have directly used the map. Imagine 5 or so seconds times 10 is one or two minutes.
You don't need to get the ticket stub and you don't need to get the brochure. While I didn't get the brochure, I did get the ticket stub.
Note that I also lost time trying to click on the heroin addict too early in the story. Though maybe I wasn't clicking correctly, I believe it is an event-activated click. I also went into the bathroom stall two or three times instead of one, because of accidentally clicking the stall instead of the exit.
I lost a lot of time on the meeting to get the 25K.
Directly asking for the pants from the guy in the station.
 |
| The game pokes fun at Microsoft: the computer is slow because it's running Windows 95. |
Faux Speed Run Successes:
Asking for the clock person's war stories.
Not ever really talking to the guy in the porn store.
Getting the jar of money before leaving the hostage area.
[20130713][20181108 Edit]
Thoughts:
As of 20181108, I don't remember enough about this game to fill out this section.
Summary:
As of 20181108, I don't remember enough about this game to fill out this section. However, I vaguely remember that I enjoyed the game to the point of desiring to play Episode 2 (and Episode 3), but I never got around to it and now there is little-to-no desire to play the second part of the story.
Hector: Badge of Carnage (PC) (2011)
Relevant Links:
Hector: Badge of Carnage (Wikipedia.org)
Hector: Badge of Carnage - Episode 1: We Negotiate With Terrorists (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
Hector: Badge of Carnage (Steam Store Page)
Monday, July 8, 2013
Beyond Good & Evil (PC) (2003)
Beyond Good & Evil (PC) (2003)
Relevant Links:
Beyond Good and Evil (video game) (Wikipedia.org)
20130708:
So I actually own this game for the Nintendo GameCube, but I never got around to playing more than just the introduction (probably twenty minutes of gameplay). I later acquired this version during the Steam Summer Sale 2012, but I didn't touch it until today.
Settings:
Booting up the game, I set my screen to be smaller (24" 16:9) than its full size (27" 16:9). This made the game look sharper. However, I was still having problems with the video flickering and the audio lagging behind the video. After changing some options, I was able to go back to using the full size of my screen and have it look better than when I first loaded the game at full size.
I'm not sure which changes solved the problems, but I loaded the SettingsApplication.exe file located in "...\steamapps\common\Beyond Good and Evil\," changed the sound card from primary sound driver to speakers (ASUS xonar DGX audio device), kept the water detail high, and moved the shadow quality back down to low (the original setting).
I should also note that I made the mistake of increasing the refresh rate from 60 Hz to 120 Hz. After playing for a while, I felt dizzy and had a headache. When I realized the increased refresh rate was the cause of the problem, I reduced it back to 60 Hz.
Some Thoughts:
While the graphics aren't as stunning as the latest adventure games on the market, the game's visuals are enjoyable. Moreover, with overall game structure similar to The Legend of Zelda series (Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, and Wind Waker), I find myself focusing more on the game's story and fun over its visuals.
With the premise that you need to make money, one game mechanic I enjoy is using the picture camera to take photos of different species for the Science Center. On the other hand, if i recall correctly, navigation of the world map in Beyond Good & Evil (by hovercraft) was difficult compared to navigation of the world map in Wind Waker (by boat).
Length of Gameplay:
According to the screenshots I took, I played the game for a total of 72 minutes (9:31 PM to 10:43 PM).
Steam: You've Played 84 minutes; Last Played 20130708.
[20131222]
 |
| Jade (protagonist) swings her jō at an enemy. |
Relevant Links:
Beyond Good and Evil (video game) (Wikipedia.org)
20130708:
So I actually own this game for the Nintendo GameCube, but I never got around to playing more than just the introduction (probably twenty minutes of gameplay). I later acquired this version during the Steam Summer Sale 2012, but I didn't touch it until today.
 |
| The aliens have captured Jade. |
Settings:
Booting up the game, I set my screen to be smaller (24" 16:9) than its full size (27" 16:9). This made the game look sharper. However, I was still having problems with the video flickering and the audio lagging behind the video. After changing some options, I was able to go back to using the full size of my screen and have it look better than when I first loaded the game at full size.
I'm not sure which changes solved the problems, but I loaded the SettingsApplication.exe file located in "...\steamapps\common\Beyond Good and Evil\," changed the sound card from primary sound driver to speakers (ASUS xonar DGX audio device), kept the water detail high, and moved the shadow quality back down to low (the original setting).
 |
| Chasing an enemy via hovercraft. |
I should also note that I made the mistake of increasing the refresh rate from 60 Hz to 120 Hz. After playing for a while, I felt dizzy and had a headache. When I realized the increased refresh rate was the cause of the problem, I reduced it back to 60 Hz.
Some Thoughts:
While the graphics aren't as stunning as the latest adventure games on the market, the game's visuals are enjoyable. Moreover, with overall game structure similar to The Legend of Zelda series (Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, and Wind Waker), I find myself focusing more on the game's story and fun over its visuals.
 |
| Taking pictures to earn a living. |
With the premise that you need to make money, one game mechanic I enjoy is using the picture camera to take photos of different species for the Science Center. On the other hand, if i recall correctly, navigation of the world map in Beyond Good & Evil (by hovercraft) was difficult compared to navigation of the world map in Wind Waker (by boat).
Length of Gameplay:
According to the screenshots I took, I played the game for a total of 72 minutes (9:31 PM to 10:43 PM).
Steam: You've Played 84 minutes; Last Played 20130708.
 |
| Jade and Pey'j. |
[20131222]