The Blogtastic Blogfest That Is Getmeoutofthis.net!

So, a lot of games i could talk about, but I think I’m going to talk about Team Fortress 2. Brer’s constant hinting and suggesting I not get it on the 360, combined with the 15 dollar price difference, made me get it on the PC… I prepurchased, and I could play Team Fortress 2 right now, so I have been. Short version: It’s pretty neat team mulitplayer action.
It runs well in a window, which is always a plus, though I should have expected it from Valve, who makes some of the more window-friendly games I’ve ever played. It’s really quite intense, and all the various classes do play differently, so I think they succeeded there. I’ve tried to give every class a fair shake (well, except Spy. I’m never sneaky. I’m never going to be effective as a Spy) and tried very hard to find someone to play that was not pure support. I don’t know why, I just felt like I’d rather be bad ass for once… however, it was not meant to be. I’m most effective as the Medic, which is what I would have guessed, and I make a decent Engineer and Heavy when the team I’m playing with needs someone to fill those spots… pretty well exactly what my niche was in Dystopia, only obviously a bit different… I keep wanting to be a Sniper, not because I’m any good at sniping, but because their secondary weapon is an SMG of sorts… I always tend to use guns like that, but there’s no class that uses that sort of weapon exclusively. (The Medic also has an SMG-like weapon in their Syringe Gun, but if you’re using that instead of your Medi-gun most of the time, you’re doing it wrong.) Granted, I think part of the reason is that those sorts of weapons take many shots to kill, of course, and if you attack someone like that you are almost definitely going to get a rocket to the head in this game. You need something to protect you if you’re using a weapon that needs multiple shots to kill, whether that be the Scout’s speed or the Heavy’s intense Hit-pointage…
Anyway, it’s a damn good game in that multiplayer shooter vein. It’s not going to dethrone Halo on the 360, but that’s a shame because it’s every bit as fun and a bit more varied, with all the classes and shite. Hopefully Brer and I will play it together more than a few times… though these last games I’ve played have been filled with lag, I don’t know if it’s my machine not being able to process the huge crazy-ass choke points I was involved in, or what… I don’t think that’s it, because I lowered the resolution of the game, and the lag didn’t go away… (note to self, kick that back up next time you play) Also, I don’t remember that lag playing on Brer’s friend’s server the night before… it might have just been the random server I was on. Oh well.

Before I move to Zelda, I do want to comment on the Valve Communities. It’s a neat little almost XBL overlay that goes over their games where you can chat and voice chat with people while you play. It’s a fairly great implementation… except for the fact that, if you start a voice chat with someone, you can only talk to them while the overlay is up. This is completely retarded. The moment I saw this, I was looking forward to just pulling in Brer, or all the Talking Tyrants, and just Voice-chatting with them while we play Team Fortress. Instead, now I still have to open up Skype for that functionality. Live lets you do that (and doesn’t make you take an hour to set up a simple game with two people… which is why I’d rather play online on Live in general and why I don’t mind playing a little for online. (it should be less than it is, but a little fee is okay) It’s click, send invite, they’re in, off you go. It’s so low-hassle… but I’ll never convince Brer or PC people of that, probably, so I’ll just move on) and it’s a godsend. I want to talk like idiots to my friends, but I don’t even want to hear random assholes. I might not be co-ordinating with my whole team, but co-ordination between friends still helps the whole team win (Playing 3 or 4 player online Halo proves this. Just Spaeth and Jonathan and I co-ordinating on the couch helps the team along quite a bit.) Anyway, I’m saddened I still have to have another program running to get this on the PC. You’re so close, Valve! Just let me like… click a check box to bring the chat out into the game or something!

I’ve also been meaning to give some impressions of Phantom Hourglass. It’s obviously scaled back a bit to be accessable to Nintendo’s new market… I could really see someone who plays Planet Puzzle League or Elite Beat Agents being able to grasp it, though it’s probably still a bit beyond the reach of the All Brain Training section of the demographic… however, it’s still a pretty good Zelda. By the numbers, but it has Wind Waker charm and cuteness to help it along.
The controls are pretty good, actually. An hour or so and you’ll not have to worry about them anymore… it actually gives the game a kinda lazy feeling… I’ve sat down with the game, playing with just one hand (you can use your other hand for some menu shortcuts, if you want, but it’s not required) and just chillin’ and playing Zelda. It’s nice, actually, and a bit different feel that I remember from Zelda (Note: The last Zelda I played was The Minnish Cap several years ago on GBA) The only control issue I have is that sometimes it’s hard to select your items quickly… clicking in the corner works, but not in high combat situations where you’d want to throw your boomerang a lot, and I feel like the R button quick selection works incorrectly, because when you release the button it cancels what you’re doing, instead of making it happen. I have to lift the stylus to throw the boomerang after drawing a path, for example, and it feels more natural to me to just let go of the R button… but these are minor complaints. It doesn’t ruin the game.
The bosses I’ve been pretty happy with so far too. Though I agree with Parish in saying that Nintendo can only make like 2 bosses, at least they’ve done some creative things with the two screens that made me smile. Not going to spoil anything, but they worked well and made the boss feel a little different, even if, perhaps, they actually weren’t.
As per usual, though, with games like this, I’m annoyed that I can play dress up but I have to unlock all the pieces in difficult fashion. I wanna make my boat look neat WITHOUT pointless sidequesting! But oh well.
Anyway, if you’re a gamer with a DS, you shouldn’t let the stylus controls disuade you. You’re still getting a solid Zelda. So, you know, go play and enjoy. And name your hero Fritzen. Because that’s what he should be named.