Monday, December 3, 2012
So I picked up Dishonored and haven't put too much time into it. Don't get me wrong. It's an amazing game which mimics the gameplay of Bioshock and the old Thief series in a steampunk world. I just didn't feel like playing a single player game. What I did put solid time into has been Halo 4 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. I went through the Halo 4 single player campaign online with a buddy and it was funtastic! I also logged tons of hours in both games competitive multi-player and CoD: BlOps 2's zombie mode. My review will come soon.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
It's Like Chess... With Zombies.
With the Dishonored review still in progress, I've been playing Last Night on Earth, by Flying Frog Productions and creator Jason C. Hill, to keep my competitive, social, and strategic skills sharp. It's also Halloween next week and this game fits the theme perfectly.
A zombie apocalypse has always been a fun situation to imagine ourselves in even though its reality would be horrific. The idea of holing up in buildings with crowbars, shotguns, and limited supplies while defending yourself against hordes of decrepit zombies trying to feed on your brains just seems exhilarating. With the board game, Last Night on Earth, players can experience the adrenaline of blasting zombies clawing at them while frantically running from building to building searching and hoping for items to aid them on their mission without the problem of potentially dying in real life. Players can also work on the flip side of the experience by hunting down survivors, chipping away their health, and turning them into zombies. It's all mostly balanced and a frighteningly great time.
Last Night on Earth pits two teams against each other playing as either zombies or heroes. Heroes place and move their pieces on the board trying to accomplish their objective for the night while zombies try to stop the heroes' progress. There are a number of random factors which keep the game new and interesting even when played for the hundredth time. There are 8 different heroes (expandable to 16) with different skills such as Billy the student being able to move extra spaces on die rolls or Amanda the prom queen with the ability to skip a battle as well as varied starting points for each character. Jake the Drifter starts on the road out of town while Sheriff Anderson starts in the police station. There are 6 diverse scenario objectives (expandable to 12) such as killing 15 zombies or searching for gas and keys to fuel an escape truck. Every scenario has a specific number of turns tracked before "dawn" comes and one team loses depending on the scenario. If the zombies can keep 15 of their own alive by dawn in one scenario, they win. In another scenario, if the heroes stay alive until dawn, they win. The board has random corners which change up the layout of buildings and the card order for both teams also keeps every game complicated and fresh. Sometimes taking too long to find the shotgun in the deck will be the catalyst of losing a game. The cards all benefit the teams that draw them by hindering the opposing team. There are cards which make the other player re-roll their fight dice, stop players from entering or exiting buildings for a turn, or cancel other cards in effect. The planning and timing of using these cards play a huge role in swinging the game around for both teams.
At the start of the game, the board pieces are chosen, card decks are shuffled, and survivors are chosen and placed in their respective area. Heroes and zombies then take turns doing their tasks in a specific order. Zombies always start the game by setting the number of turns available on the "Sun Tracker" and moving the marker at the beginning of their turn. They draw their cards to play from the "Zombie Deck" or save for later use. They then move zombies already placed and place any new available zombies in zombie spawning pits. The heroes decide if they want to move their survivor or choose not to move and search in the "Hero Deck" for items if they're in a building. When zombies and heroes are on the same space together, a fight ensues. The most action and tension come from these encounters. All the strategic player placements and item searching culminate to winning these battles. All the items and powers picked up only serve to bend your chances in your favor slightly. What twists the game even more is that it all depends on the luck of the dice rolls. The somewhat uncontrollable chaos of luck creates the excitement. There have been many fights which have been stacked in favor of one side from great items which have gone awry simply because one player rolled incredibly against another. The game essentially goes back and forth with these moves, searches, and battles until the scenario chosen is accomplished or the marker hits dawn.
The board and pieces are well constructed, look pretty, and will endure many sessions, even with pizza and beer being consumed and hazardously placed nearby. The board is stiff cardboard with a glossy finish on both sides which protects it from scrapes and liquids. Artwork on each board piece is detailed and clear with buildings, walls, and outdoor areas. Each building is unique and furnished well. The police station is small and has desks, holding cells, and a front office. The gym has basketball hoops and bleachers while the supermarket is large with checkout lanes and aisles littered with groceries as though it were scavenged by a mob. The zombies are varied and posed in different menacing positions. The player tokens are molded from plastic and finely sculpted to look just like the characters they represent. The heroes are dressed so they can easily be recognized. Jenna the farmer's daughter has her flannel shirt, jeans, and cowboy hat, Becky the nurse sports the typical cliche nurse's outfit, while Johnny the jock has his varsity sport coat and baseball bat. Each character token is also packing a weapon that is available in the card deck such as sledgehammers, dynamite, and revolvers. All the pieces are plain plastic so it's possible to paint each token to add even more individual flair and style. The cards are straight-forward with player abilities and each have artwork which represent their power. The entire set is done well and looks enticing when arranged on a table ready for play.
Although the game played exceptionally well, there were a few hiccups that occured while playing. The first part was the steep learning curve of setting the game up and all the intricate rules from "line of sight" for weapons to learning all the individual card's rule and the proper usage. There are hundreds of cards in total and most of the cards have unique powers that need to be discussed for fair play since the rule book doesn't explain them. Another issue that that arose was due to the randomness of the scenarios, player placement, dice battles, and card orders. There were times when a game lasted 15 minutes or about 4 turns because the right cards just happened to come out coincidentally and the dice rolled perfectly to end a game. Other times the game took 4 hours to finish and decks needed to be re-shuffled and started over because nothing was working right. A majority of the games did play around the stated 2 hour mark, however. The last gripe is that the way the teams are set up can make for some awkward interactions among players. The game allows up to 6 players at once. There can only be a maximum of 2 zombie players total. Depending on how many people play, the teams are set up differently. If 2 players play, it's obviously 1 zombie player and 1 hero player. If there are 3 players, there are 2 hero players and 1 zombie player. 4 players would even the teams out again. 5 or 6 players would stack the hero team 4 to 2. In the lopsided situations, it feels sometimes that the zombie players are getting ganged up upon. Four heads thinking together is usually more powerful than two. The team dynamics tend to also create more camaraderie, energy, and morale for the hero players with four people. Ultimately though, these are all minor gripes which don't detract from the major enjoyment of Last Night on Earth, but do add issues that may bother some.
Last Night on Earth is a zombie themed "chess-like" board game with "Magic the Gathering" card play mechanics and a splash of "Risk" style dice battling. The game is extremely well designed and implemented with only a few minor gripes. It delivers a great experience which mimics a strategic zombie apocalypse and should be enjoyed. As an added bonus, Last Night on Earth includes a CD with hours of eerie mood music to set the atmosphere and pulls players in even deeper. The randomness of the game creates huge replay-ability and value and can be further expanded with expansion sets.
A zombie apocalypse has always been a fun situation to imagine ourselves in even though its reality would be horrific. The idea of holing up in buildings with crowbars, shotguns, and limited supplies while defending yourself against hordes of decrepit zombies trying to feed on your brains just seems exhilarating. With the board game, Last Night on Earth, players can experience the adrenaline of blasting zombies clawing at them while frantically running from building to building searching and hoping for items to aid them on their mission without the problem of potentially dying in real life. Players can also work on the flip side of the experience by hunting down survivors, chipping away their health, and turning them into zombies. It's all mostly balanced and a frighteningly great time.
Last Night on Earth pits two teams against each other playing as either zombies or heroes. Heroes place and move their pieces on the board trying to accomplish their objective for the night while zombies try to stop the heroes' progress. There are a number of random factors which keep the game new and interesting even when played for the hundredth time. There are 8 different heroes (expandable to 16) with different skills such as Billy the student being able to move extra spaces on die rolls or Amanda the prom queen with the ability to skip a battle as well as varied starting points for each character. Jake the Drifter starts on the road out of town while Sheriff Anderson starts in the police station. There are 6 diverse scenario objectives (expandable to 12) such as killing 15 zombies or searching for gas and keys to fuel an escape truck. Every scenario has a specific number of turns tracked before "dawn" comes and one team loses depending on the scenario. If the zombies can keep 15 of their own alive by dawn in one scenario, they win. In another scenario, if the heroes stay alive until dawn, they win. The board has random corners which change up the layout of buildings and the card order for both teams also keeps every game complicated and fresh. Sometimes taking too long to find the shotgun in the deck will be the catalyst of losing a game. The cards all benefit the teams that draw them by hindering the opposing team. There are cards which make the other player re-roll their fight dice, stop players from entering or exiting buildings for a turn, or cancel other cards in effect. The planning and timing of using these cards play a huge role in swinging the game around for both teams.
At the start of the game, the board pieces are chosen, card decks are shuffled, and survivors are chosen and placed in their respective area. Heroes and zombies then take turns doing their tasks in a specific order. Zombies always start the game by setting the number of turns available on the "Sun Tracker" and moving the marker at the beginning of their turn. They draw their cards to play from the "Zombie Deck" or save for later use. They then move zombies already placed and place any new available zombies in zombie spawning pits. The heroes decide if they want to move their survivor or choose not to move and search in the "Hero Deck" for items if they're in a building. When zombies and heroes are on the same space together, a fight ensues. The most action and tension come from these encounters. All the strategic player placements and item searching culminate to winning these battles. All the items and powers picked up only serve to bend your chances in your favor slightly. What twists the game even more is that it all depends on the luck of the dice rolls. The somewhat uncontrollable chaos of luck creates the excitement. There have been many fights which have been stacked in favor of one side from great items which have gone awry simply because one player rolled incredibly against another. The game essentially goes back and forth with these moves, searches, and battles until the scenario chosen is accomplished or the marker hits dawn.
The board and pieces are well constructed, look pretty, and will endure many sessions, even with pizza and beer being consumed and hazardously placed nearby. The board is stiff cardboard with a glossy finish on both sides which protects it from scrapes and liquids. Artwork on each board piece is detailed and clear with buildings, walls, and outdoor areas. Each building is unique and furnished well. The police station is small and has desks, holding cells, and a front office. The gym has basketball hoops and bleachers while the supermarket is large with checkout lanes and aisles littered with groceries as though it were scavenged by a mob. The zombies are varied and posed in different menacing positions. The player tokens are molded from plastic and finely sculpted to look just like the characters they represent. The heroes are dressed so they can easily be recognized. Jenna the farmer's daughter has her flannel shirt, jeans, and cowboy hat, Becky the nurse sports the typical cliche nurse's outfit, while Johnny the jock has his varsity sport coat and baseball bat. Each character token is also packing a weapon that is available in the card deck such as sledgehammers, dynamite, and revolvers. All the pieces are plain plastic so it's possible to paint each token to add even more individual flair and style. The cards are straight-forward with player abilities and each have artwork which represent their power. The entire set is done well and looks enticing when arranged on a table ready for play.
Although the game played exceptionally well, there were a few hiccups that occured while playing. The first part was the steep learning curve of setting the game up and all the intricate rules from "line of sight" for weapons to learning all the individual card's rule and the proper usage. There are hundreds of cards in total and most of the cards have unique powers that need to be discussed for fair play since the rule book doesn't explain them. Another issue that that arose was due to the randomness of the scenarios, player placement, dice battles, and card orders. There were times when a game lasted 15 minutes or about 4 turns because the right cards just happened to come out coincidentally and the dice rolled perfectly to end a game. Other times the game took 4 hours to finish and decks needed to be re-shuffled and started over because nothing was working right. A majority of the games did play around the stated 2 hour mark, however. The last gripe is that the way the teams are set up can make for some awkward interactions among players. The game allows up to 6 players at once. There can only be a maximum of 2 zombie players total. Depending on how many people play, the teams are set up differently. If 2 players play, it's obviously 1 zombie player and 1 hero player. If there are 3 players, there are 2 hero players and 1 zombie player. 4 players would even the teams out again. 5 or 6 players would stack the hero team 4 to 2. In the lopsided situations, it feels sometimes that the zombie players are getting ganged up upon. Four heads thinking together is usually more powerful than two. The team dynamics tend to also create more camaraderie, energy, and morale for the hero players with four people. Ultimately though, these are all minor gripes which don't detract from the major enjoyment of Last Night on Earth, but do add issues that may bother some.
Last Night on Earth is a zombie themed "chess-like" board game with "Magic the Gathering" card play mechanics and a splash of "Risk" style dice battling. The game is extremely well designed and implemented with only a few minor gripes. It delivers a great experience which mimics a strategic zombie apocalypse and should be enjoyed. As an added bonus, Last Night on Earth includes a CD with hours of eerie mood music to set the atmosphere and pulls players in even deeper. The randomness of the game creates huge replay-ability and value and can be further expanded with expansion sets.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Tis' a Season Ender and Season Starter
I was looking forward to a leisurely ride on beautiful wooded paths around the Quabbin Reservoir in MA. There were six of us riding in total on a nippy Columbus Day Monday. A variety of bikes were there from a Ducati, to a couple CBRs, and my GSXR. After meeting up with the crew and chatting in a parking lot in South Bay Center, we started our engines and blasted towards our riding route. We took I-90 north, or the Mass Pike, and maintained a steady 90MPH in tight formation during the long straights and only stopped for the tolls. It was so cold going that fast I shivered the entire way up. "Need to get better riding gear", I thought. The brief stops at the tolls and waiting for others gave everyone a chance to get warm. After 45 minutes, our exit in Auburn, MA was reached and we stopped in at the closest gas station for a quick rest.
After warming up, re-fueling, and getting bio breaks, we started up again and hit the wooded paths of Auburn. It was beautiful as well as dangerous. The roads were narrow and as winded and twisted as an overly excited snake. It takes an advanced skill to navigate these roads at high speeds. Adding in the fact the roads were still a bit damp from the rain the day before and cluttered with wet leaves made it even more difficult. This one particular corner was menacing. It was at the end of a downhill and veered to the left sharply where I wasn't able to see. My folly was not calculating my speed going in versus knowing how sharp the turn actually was. "Uhh ohhh", I thought. Skreeeeetchhhhh... BOOM!
Round 1. I lose.
I went into the turn too fast and without leaning my bike down enough to the left to clear the turn, I under-steered into a small open area with wet leaves and small branches breaking me and my GSXR's fall. I landed on my left shoulder and the bike laid on top of me. "Ouch", I thought. After accessing what happened, I felt I was OK. There were no severe injuries and I only had mild left deltoid pain. I was glad I hit the gym frequently, because that probably played a role in saving me from a visit to the hospital. I picked the bike up and with help from my fellow riders, started it back up. There were issues with the bike so I couldn't continue any further without slowing everyone down. We said our farewells and I headed home. The ride home sucked. The bike topped out at 45MPH and kept shutting off when I wasn't throttling. It took me twice the time to get home and I was so relieved to finally get back.
I had a great time riding. I busted my bike my up, but I walked away unscathed, luckily. At least it's the end of the riding season, so I can just put my baby into storage and fix her up next year. What that means is that I'll have more time to jam on some video games! The weather is colder and there are few things as lovely as bundling up in sweats and a hoodie and rocking to some new games. The holiday season is fast approaching and it is gaming's hottest time of year. Borderlands 2, Resident Evil 6, and XCOM: Enemy Unknown are already available and I'm far behind. I'll probably hold off on those titles and purchase Dishonored by Bethesda Softworks and Arkane Studio. Stay tuned for my thoughts on that.
After warming up, re-fueling, and getting bio breaks, we started up again and hit the wooded paths of Auburn. It was beautiful as well as dangerous. The roads were narrow and as winded and twisted as an overly excited snake. It takes an advanced skill to navigate these roads at high speeds. Adding in the fact the roads were still a bit damp from the rain the day before and cluttered with wet leaves made it even more difficult. This one particular corner was menacing. It was at the end of a downhill and veered to the left sharply where I wasn't able to see. My folly was not calculating my speed going in versus knowing how sharp the turn actually was. "Uhh ohhh", I thought. Skreeeeetchhhhh... BOOM!
Round 1. I lose.
I went into the turn too fast and without leaning my bike down enough to the left to clear the turn, I under-steered into a small open area with wet leaves and small branches breaking me and my GSXR's fall. I landed on my left shoulder and the bike laid on top of me. "Ouch", I thought. After accessing what happened, I felt I was OK. There were no severe injuries and I only had mild left deltoid pain. I was glad I hit the gym frequently, because that probably played a role in saving me from a visit to the hospital. I picked the bike up and with help from my fellow riders, started it back up. There were issues with the bike so I couldn't continue any further without slowing everyone down. We said our farewells and I headed home. The ride home sucked. The bike topped out at 45MPH and kept shutting off when I wasn't throttling. It took me twice the time to get home and I was so relieved to finally get back.
I had a great time riding. I busted my bike my up, but I walked away unscathed, luckily. At least it's the end of the riding season, so I can just put my baby into storage and fix her up next year. What that means is that I'll have more time to jam on some video games! The weather is colder and there are few things as lovely as bundling up in sweats and a hoodie and rocking to some new games. The holiday season is fast approaching and it is gaming's hottest time of year. Borderlands 2, Resident Evil 6, and XCOM: Enemy Unknown are already available and I'm far behind. I'll probably hold off on those titles and purchase Dishonored by Bethesda Softworks and Arkane Studio. Stay tuned for my thoughts on that.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Re-format and Re-boot
After a couple years of inactivity, it is time to reboot my inner mental monologue turned text. The mission is to share the inner energy of an avid video gamer, technology fanatic, and zealot of all things geeky. In addition, there will be insight on extra hobbies such as motorcycling, weight lifting, and boozing adventures. May the Tech Boob games recommence!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
