Monday, March 17, 2008

Now Playing

It's time again to filled you in on what I've been playing.

Tabula Rasa (PC)
As was probably clear from my review, I've really been enjoying this MMO. The aesthetics, which I had criticized, got more interesting when I finally got off-planet. It's still nowhere near as consistently inspired as WoW, but it's a bit better. I'm very close to the next class split, which will mean that I can finally get my flamethrower. Believe me, I am stoked to flame some fools, but even if it's not as awesome as it is in my head I can always flip over to one of my clones and experiment with a different class branch. The game has gotten a little more grindy as I've approached level 30, but it still moves along way faster than any other MMO.

There was a bit of news a month ago that NCSoft would be making a console MMO. And I think that there's a good chance that could be a port of Tabula Rasa. I've never played an MMO so apt for console play; the interface would be a no brainer to map to a controller. It's true that there are other challenges in bringing an online persistent game to the consoles, but most people write off the possibility of a console MMO because of the interface, and Tabula Rasa wouldn't have that problem.

Lord of the Rings Online (PC)
Actually, I'm not playing LotRO. I officially canceled my subscription last week. LotRO was always a bit on the slow side, but after playing Tabula Rasa I just couldn't handle it. I couldn't even power through one more level to make a clean 40. So I decided to call it quits. I'm not sure if the recently announced expansion will be enough to lure me back. I totally want to explore Moria, but I don't know if that'll be enough. I've already written about what I think is wrong with the game, but don't be surprised if you see more posts as I examine it further, even if I'm no longer playing it.

Rock Band (Xbox360)
It's amazing that I haven't posted a review of Rock Band yet. But I usually only write about a game when I'm done with it… and I'm still playing a ton of Rock Band after all these months. The weekly DLC has definitely help keep it fresh. With so many tracks and so many ways to perform them, this game ain't going anywhere anytime soon. But yes, I will get off my duff and post a proper review.

Smash Bros Brawl (Wii)
I played the crap out of Smash Bros Melee on the Gamecube, which firmly planted Brawl as one of my most anticipated Wii titles. It hasn't disappointed me yet. That's not to say that it's exceeded any expectations - it's met them precisely. Basically it's exactly like Melee except with a couple more small features. It's more of the same, so if you loved Melee you'll love Brawl.

DS
I haven't used my DS in months. When work was crazy I got into the habit of working on my laptop on the bus instead of playing. Unfortunately the habit stayed even after things calmed down. I'll probably have to pick up something like Phantom Hourglass to get my motivated again, because Portrait of Ruin wasn't cutting it.

Pile of Shame
Here are the games that somehow got pushed to the side and I haven't given the attention they deserve:

There was certainly a long period of there being no high quality Wii titles. But it seems that when they finally did come out I wasn't ready for them.

Review Backlog
Given the large list of AAA titles from last fall, I'm a little behind on my reviews. Here's the list of games that are pending a write-up:

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