Game Review: Crackdown 2/Puzzle Quest 2

It’s two reviews in one! Primarily because Crackdown 2 – French/English is nothing special. The original Crackdown was a surprise hit, because expectations were so very very low. It’s first wave of sales was driven almost exclusively by people who wanted the Halo demo that came with it. And when those Halo fans tried out the game that came with their demo, they were delighted to find a fun, jump around supercop game. There were flaws, sure, but it made it by on suprising fun. This time around, there’s no surprise, and a whole lot of expectation, so the weak points are very obvious. The story is so far from the foreground that it’s meaningless. The aiming system stinks, just stinks. And the tone is inconsistent. The idea is that the Agents are supercops who are better than everyone else and detached from humanity. Fine and dandy, it’s a morally grey game. But whenever I accidentally killed some civilians who were eager to leap in front of my car or gun, the big jerk boss voice would scold me, and I would lose a few points. In a game that was trying to give you a real sense of moral choices and consequences, this would make sense, but in this mess it just kept me from driving anywhere, and not using the rocket launcher as much as I wanted to. Crackdown 2 only gets a 6 out of 10. I played it, and finished it, but it wasn’t a satisfying experience, especially for the cost.

Contrast that with Puzzle Quest 2, a game that combines puzzles, and rpg elements like leveling and weapon customization. Win! I bought and played it on Xbox live for about $20.00, and the single player alone was well worth the money. It even held some fun for the wife, so it was a family success too.  A smaller, and cheaper game, it managed to outperform Crackdown 2 in every way except for jumping. There is no jumping in Puzzle Quest 2. I give it an 8 out of 10.

Where is my mind?

Ah yes, scrounging around the couch cushions looking for change.  Or have I already belly ached about money? I have? Hmm. What are the odds that I’d repeat myself?

I am fully instituting a 3 times a week blogging schedule, so be prepared every Monday, Wednesday and Friday to have your socks shifted slightly. If we’re all lucky, the socks will be occasionally rocked right off, but I’m not making any promises.

I wonder if every parent really thinks their child is above average? I’m mildly concerned that school will be a little slower than he can tolerate, since his February birthday means Max will be going into junior kindergarten as a 4 going on 5-year-old. I don’t want to imply that he’s a supergenius, but he’s pretty ahead of the curve in verbal skills and logical reasoning. So, either he’ll be frustrated by his peers at school, or he’ll mold them into his personal army. Go get ’em, son!

On to professional matters: I’m trying to submit story ideas to various publications now, to at least inform them of my existence. Hopefully, a couple of the local ones will throw a bone or two in my direction and I can build a little bit of an employer base to draw work from. I’m not terribly great at chasing down stories. My strengths are more towards the articles-made-to-order.

Just a Big Ol’ Mess O’ things

First, I think we’re winning the battle for the bedroom. Max is now sleeping most of the night in his own bed, in his own room, and after sharing a room for far too long, it’s a wonderful change. It was a necessary change-whenever we would come to bed, the noise and commotion would unsettle his sleep and sometimes wake him up. Plus, he’s all legs and arms now, and there’s just not enough room for him in our bed.  There’s still some room to improve. He wakes up once during the night (usually around 2am) and tries to storm his way into our bed again. K has been successfully wrestling him back into his bed, but it usually means she ends up there for the rest of the night. Unfortunately, Max’s bed is a futon that puts a kink in K’s back. And, the boy still wakes up to start his day between 5:15 and 6:45, depending on a million different factors, most of which are arcane and unknown. Maybe wind speed in the Sargasso Sea or disturbances in the Force, whatever the case, he wakes up and drags his mom downstairs with him, so she’s a little tired.

In the financial world, I make no money. So, we are about to tighten the old belts. Most likely, we’re going back to being a one car family. It’s been nice having the luxury of 2 car freedom, but realistically its a cost that we don’t need to incur. If somehow I start to make bundles of cash for writing/parenting (anyone want to pay me? Any one?) then we’ll think about 2 cars again, but for now it’s down to one buggy for the Loblaws.

A hearty pioneer shout out to my only Western reader, out there in the wilds of Manitoba (Hi Emily!). At this rate, by 2020 I’ll have enough blog followers to fill a room. Fame!

Musically: is it possible to enjoy “Let the good times roll” by the Cars in any way other than ironically? It’s the party song for people who have no idea how to throw or participate in a party (I always think of the party scene from ‘Revenge of the Nerds, before they all get high).