Couple Gaming

My list a few years ago of “top Horror Games” is probably one of our most looked at pages, so of course for this Halloween, I wanted to get someone else’s point of view… and something with a visual to show you guys how truly terrifying some of these games are!

So, after a little searching, I found something to titillate your dark side. I don’t agree with all of the suggestions, but it does give a nice view of both the old- and new- style of games. (Remember : Just because it’s on the shelves doesn’t mean it’s the best!)

But I still want to know: What games have kept you up at night, checking under your bed??

Ok I know this isn’t the normal gaming we cover, but seriously why limit ourselves and you for that matter? So I be pleased to introduce you to Flux, a card game.

I know, I know..its a card game, no graphics and no graphics..seriously NO graphics.  I felt the same way until one Saturday night about a month ago when our new friends brought out the game over some Gin and Tonic, obviously waiting until I was drunk, knowing full well I will do almost anything while drunk and capitalizing on it.  I think at the time I gave them the drunk stink eye and then smiled and passed out while they dealt the cards.  Once I had regained my composer I sat and waited for the rules, which were really really easy, each person gets three cards, and who ever goes first picks on card from the deck, and then its gets interesting, you see the rules are made as the game progresses, you have action cards and rule cards which tell you what the rules are, for instance, a draw 3 cards rule which makes it so everyone has to draw 3 cards, and a play all cards rule, which then means everyone draws 3 cards and has to play all the cards they have, including the 3 they just drew, and it goes on and on, so that at some point in the night there were so many rules I was pretty sure I cheated most of the game, unaware that there were rules wrapping around the table and my blurred vision couldn’t see them, something along the lines of draw 5 cards, play 3 make a sound if you draw this card and if you have this certain type of card you have to pass your cards to the left and then take 2 cards from the person on your right and so on…seriously.   The game does have a goal, but it changes as people pick up goal cards from the deck and change them when they see fit, usually you have to have 2 cards of a certain type to win the game, but of course there may be some rule that you can’t have a certain card as well.   I won’t tell you how awesome this game is, I would just ask that you give it a try, just to see how you like it, the worst is your out the $15 or what ever it costs for the deck.  But for us, after playing Rock Band 2 for 4 hours, its nice to hunker down and play this very entertaining card game with some good friends, not to mention you get to drink more as your hands are now free from your plastic instrument.

Most of the media responses I’ve seen against GTA IV have been regarding the fact that you can drive drunk in this game. MADD has proposed that the rating of M be changed to something harsher, and ads have been removed from 2 city transits because of it.
I’d like to clear up exactly what they are so upset about right now:

Yes, you can go to a bar, and you do leave drunk. You are wobbly, the screen is shaky, you can barely walk, and you’re told to get home. I decided I couldn’t walk, so I got in the car just to see how far I could drive. I drove ONE FOOT before deciding there was no way I could drive drunk. By the time I got out of the car, I had 3 cop cars around me. I got out to get arrested (sleep it off in a cell, I thought.. I wasn’t sure), and taking 3 steps got me shot. I “slept it off” in the hospital, which I was charged for. I have never been so terrified of driving drunk in my life.

If that isn’t an anti-drunk-driving message, I truly do not know what is.

Evidently, it is possible to get through the cops & drive drunk anyway. For those that want to know what this is like, here’s a snippet:

When Guitar Hero III came out, we thought we had a choice to make: GH III or RockBand? GH coming out sooner pretty much sealed it for us (though if I had the choice to make again, I would have skipped GH III).

Saturday, Ymiris & I were out looking for christmas games for our friends when we came across a demo for Rock Band. They had a guitar, a set of “drums”, and a microphone, and it was set up right next to a demo for GHIII. Side-by-side, you can tell they come from the same minds. The graphics are incredibly similar, so much that I would almost call it a Guitar Hero 4. The tabs are a little changed, and the graphics look revamped (almost for the worse), but it’s easy enough to understand if you’ve ever seen GH.

After watching the graphics for a few minutes, we decided to try our hand at it. That’s right, it’s Couple Gaming Band.. with Ymiris on Guitar, and Ophilye on the Drums (I wasn’t about to take up the microphone in the middle of Best Buy) , performing EPIC.. as made famous by Faith No More.

Ymiris picked Medium and picked it up with ease. The guitar from the front looks a little less game-ish; the colors are listed along the side, and the buttons are the entire length of the guitar neck, instead of just buttons sitting on top of it. Ymiris reported immediately that they took a few minutes to get used to, and it wasn’t entirely a pleasurable experience, unlike the new wireless GHIII guitar. But, it wasn’t as sticky as the GHII guitar either.. so I suppose that is a good thing.

I picked Easy for the drums, and quickly realized that the yellow drum was broken, so I could only hit the other 3 notes. I also realized that there was no foot pedal.. but I still did pretty well without those 2 things. It came a lot more naturally than you would think, as I have never played the drums in my life; however, it was also a lot more difficult to keep the beat, at least in that song. There were drum beats where I couldn’t hear any, and it was missing things I thought would be there (it turned out being the base). However, the hardware was incredibly easy to get used to, and spaced apart fairly well.

Instead of just strictly Star Power to boost your collective score, you used something similar to help out your friends when they were sucking it up *cough*ymiris*cough*. The vocals & the drums have no control over when they use their power, but the base & guitar do. (I mean really, what are you going to do, shake the drums up & down to use the power? hehehe.. that would be awesome..)

Lastly.. we must bring up the songs. Now, I personally loved the GH1 songlist, was OK with the GH2 songlist, and despise the GH3 songlist. Don’t get me wrong, Barracuda is good, but when there are only 3 songs you like, they get annoying very quickly. Rock Bands songlist is Much more impressive. NIN, Garbage, the Clash, Soundgarden, Jet? These are bands I WANT to be! And they already have out 10 downloadable packs! granted $.99 - $1.99 per song is an obnoxious price to pay, (C’mon Microsoft. Just because I’ll pay it to have it on my Zune does NOT mean it’s acceptible for a stupid GAME that can’t go ANYWHERE with me!) but at least you’re not paying that amount for songs that already came in another game *cough*GH1*cough*. To get a full list of songs, view Wikipedia:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_son… )

So, as for the answer of GHIII or RB… well.. on our way out of Best Buy, Ymiris & I began discussing things. We’re pretty sure Santa could bring it to us this year, as Ymiris has been an absolute saint. Which, we continued discussing, is good, cuz I’ve been an absolute bitch. Luckily, I have some dirt on Mrs. Clause, so I’m expecting my Acura RDX to be in the driveway by 4 am.

I’m off for now. I need to go brush up on my singing…

“Wait.. they don’t love you like I love you.. maaaaaaaaahaaaahaaahhaaaaaps Wait.. They don’t love you like I love you!”

OK, so you’re in between 3 or 4 projects, and your Attention Deficit Disorder has caught up with you. You need something quick that you can do, something to get your mind on something else before going back to the projects refreshed.

I’m here to tell you some of the best ways to do that! Why spend that precious in-between time trying out a game you find soon enough is more frustrating than relaxing? So, here’s my list of my favorite 5-minute games.

XBOX 360 Arcade games:

Hexic

I believe this game came free with the 360, as I have never been on a 360 that didn’t have it. Despite it being one of the first, it is by far one of the best. It can be a quick game of beat the clock, or an ongoing montage, where you can switch players and go for hours if you’d like. It contains all the best things about a game in a tiny little box: It is making order out of disorder (like Ymiris’ defrag-watching fetish), It is colorful & has definitely pleasing and rewarding sounds, and it requires puzzle-solving to get good at. The achievements are not incredibly easy to come by, just try to get a black pearl.

Uno

Yes, this is the game you played as a kid. Simple gameplay makes it good to just pick up for a minute, but sounds, backgrounds, and some added graphics make it quite a bit more fun, especially if you can get a group game where the deck is not the default one. I love the Kameo colors and sounds, and my daughter enjoys being able to talk to other people (after turning off video and my approving who the people are, of course). The one downside is that while playing other people, you do get some people that are most certainly not appropriate. I suggest playing with friends, or making the sound come through the headphones, then not wearing them. I definitely suggest turning off video.

Heavy Weapon

This is a simply side-scrolling end-of-the-world tank shooter. Up to 4 people can play at once, and it is more reminiscent of Space Invaders: just keep shooting no matter what. It does get boring after a few repetitive boards, but it is good for a quick distraction.

Lumines

OK, I have heard the internet go crazy for this game, but honestly I found it annoying and frustrating. It is something like tetris, but the music is repetitive and hypnotic. The gameplay is fun for a while, but I found I’m too used to creating shapes instead of simply squares, so after about 2 boards, I wrote it off as one of the most annoying games I’ve ever played. However, with the recent craze, I cant’ have a complete list without at least mentioning it. Give it a try & let me know I’m just touchy. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

ONLINE games:

Kdice / Dice Wars:

Remember Risk? The game where you own countries, and the more countries you own the more guys you get to go attack the neighboring countries? OK, now imagine that instead of men, you get dice.. that being the number of dice you get to roll to see if you take over or not. That’s Dice Wars. For a game in between working, I suggest the one-player version (Dice Wars), but for when you have about 15 minutes to really sit down & play, play Kdice, the multi-player version. I usually play kdice while cleaning the kitchen… it’s somehow a satisfying multi-tasking.

N game:

This game has become so popular, it will be on the Xbox 360 fall 2007. This is a great Pac-man-becomes-a-ninja game, where you are a ninja (N) that defies gravity, for the most part. Jumping and falling and bouncing off the walls collecting dots, and eventually avoiding heat-seeking missles and lazers. It takes a few minutes to get the controls down, but after that you’ll start finding reasons that work is slow ..

Sudoku:

If you haven’t already played this, you are really REALLY behind on the time. It’s something of a tic-tac-toe or chess against numbers, I suppose. This game is the new Crossword puzzle, with less dictionaries. I do highly suggest it, especially number-logic. But do beware, once you get it down & realize you’re being timed, you’re going to have difficulty coming away.

 

OK, that’s it for now. I’m hoping to try out the wii arcade soon, but no promises. I have lvl 66 to get in WoW, an actual attempt at the new Zelda, WiiPlay, and whatever Vidar comes up with next… I’m swamped!

In celebration of one of our favorite holidays we are giving our list of some of the best horror games we have played.

9 – FEAR (FPS)

There is no doubt that the first 10 minutes of this game are terrifying. Watching that little girl as she is practically toying with you.. and the climactic exploding-hallway scene… it’s scary. Of course, the rest leaves something to be desired in the Horror genre, but it’s definitely worth mentioning.

8 – Doom 3 (FPS)

Once you figure out that the only way to find these monsters before they find you is by listening to your environment, this game contains a ton of OMG-WTF-WAS-THAT moments to jump-right-out-of-your-chair because a beam fell. Unfortunately, it does that enough times that by the end, it goes the way of FEAR and you’re back to the normal FPS.

7 – The Resident Evil Series (FPS)

If you haven’t seen these games, and the 3 movies about them, you need to bring your head out of the hole you call an MMORPG and look around. Unfortunately, I jumped on to this series a little late, but I understand it is still a great jump late at night, and still rather inventive despite coming out with a 5^th game.

6 – Phantasmagoria series (Puzzle)

This definitely follows the Horror genre more closely, as you are a girl that discovers a magician has killed all of his previous wives in very gruesome manners. (To see all the deaths in their b-movie-like glory, go here: http://i-mockery.com/minimocks/phantasmagoria/default.php ) It has a good sticks-with-you-for-years-afterwards value, and after playing Phantasmagoria 2: Puzzle of Flesh, I will never again trust my monitor. I’m not kidding, the first time the words in my e-mail change on me, I’m quitting all technology-related jobs.

5 – Clive Barkers Undying (FPS)

This may be more Halloween than Horror, but it’s definitely inventive. Vampires, monsters, everything you’d expect from Clive Barker. Not as many jump-out-of-your-chair moments, but enough spookiness to keep it around for next Halloween.

4 – 7^th Guest series (puzzle) (link icky, but there’s not much anymore)

Old Man Stauf built a house, and filled it with his toys.
Six guests entered the house, their screams were the only noise.
Blood in the library, Blood in the entryhall.
Blood drips right up the attic stairs. Guests, please try not to fall.
No one came out that night. Not one was ever seen.
Crazy, old Stauf is waiting there. Crazy, sick and mean!

This game terrified me for months. The 6 guests he killed, their cries echoing in the house during movie pieces… his voice reverberating every time you played one of his mini games, and the story slowly unfolding of the horrible things he did.. and those dolls. The music in this thing is probably the most terrifying part of it, it seemed upbeat in a graveyard kind of way. And his ever-taunting “feeling..LOOONNEEELLYY” as you wandered through his maze… I still hear that voice any time I am walking alone in a dark hallway.

If you would like to review The 11^th Hour (the followup to 7^th guest), please do. It looks like they are working on a 3^rd game called “the 13^th doll” http://t7g3.com/ . Delicious!

3- Silent Hill series (Puzzle)

This series has become as popular as the Resident Evil series, but I feel it is a lot scarier. The ambience I have seen in these games have leaps and bounds on the Resident Evil series. Unfortunately, as with RE, I jumped on this late. I had bought Silent Hill 3, but the controls were too hard for me to catch onto, especially with how freaky the game was, and I ended up just giving up. Even through the controls, I can’t deny this was a game MADE for the horror genre.

2 – The Suffering series (FPS)

This has both psychological horror and the bumps-in-the-night horror as you try to escape the prison as an inmate. You may or may not have killed your wife and daughter.. but their voices definitely haunt you every time you have a choice to do something good or bad. So what good & bad choices do you have? Well, first you’re definitely seeing “things” in every dark corner. In the light corners, you see an officer in the electric chair. You can either fry him or let him go. If you’re bad, you fry him of course. If you’re good, you try to save him.. only to have some THING with 4’ long blades as arms fry him for you. And then the THING comes after you, scraping it’s blades along the walls as it searches. Oh, and of course you get to become a beast every so often. Yep, fun for the whole family!

1 – Fatal Frame series (FPS)

I say this is an FPS, but you’re not shooting a gun, you’re shooting a camera. This in fact makes this game a HELLUVALOT scarier. You are walking through a ghost village.. which holds a terrible secret, and a helluvalot of ghosts. Every ghost calls out to you, causes the world to rumble (or your handset, whatever), and is as different as normal people. The only way to defeat these ghosts is by taking pictures of them with a special camera. Unfortunately, they’ve made it so the “critical shots”, which do the most damage, is only when the ghost is finally rushing at you, arms outstretched. Enough to get anyones heart pumping a little too fast. They almost always appear behind you first.. although a few have dropped down from the ceiling on you.. or walk through a wall to you… Or all the horrible things ghosts love to do.

The entire game is black , white, grey, and a muted Theme color….usually Red or Blue… that points out more significant parts of the movie segments. The only color you get are when there is a ghost near by, your “ghost meter” lights up in a very bright color.. making the entire thing more terrifying.

I promise you, you will believe there are ghosts in the hall after playing this game.

Honorable Mention:

Obsidian – where else can you decide the fate of the world?

System Shock – the End Boss has been said to be THE scariest thing of all time

Shadow Man – Particularly the boss while “Night Music” is playing

American McGees Alice – I have never thought of Alice as evil and covered in blood until this game. Now I can’t think of her any other way.