Hey Man, well this is Babylon

Holy cow, the guys at Penny-Arcade, in their own round-about “Wall of Text” way, have pretty much blasted the new Metal Gear game. You know… sadly, as much as I enjoy hanging with Beth and Chris and Crew and watching them play video games, and as much as I’m looking forward to doing just that this evening, I agree with Tycho. I just never got why or how that series was supposedly so awesome. Too many do-it-again-stupid moments make it frustrating for me, and too many goddamned cut scenes (and they only multiply exponentially with every new game) make me feel like I’m playing a retro Sega CD “Full Motion Video Game” (aka the X Button-Pressing Sim) with very little actual playing of the game.

Seriously, why is it even a game series anymore? Why not just turn them into movies, like the series designer obviously is trying to do? Anyway, tonight is part 2 of the MGS3 play-through (formerly called Metal Gear Jawsome, and now renamed Metal Gear Hotness). I’m excited by having good friends over, and even more excited that I can easily retire to my bedroom when the game’s terrible dialogue and endless cutscenes eventually grate on my nerves.

The Suffering: Ties That Bind is turning out to be a lot more difficult than I remember it. I gave up the “Hard Mode, Bat-Only” approach after realizing that I’m not entirely sure if it’s even possible on normal mode. Now I’m playing Normal, just so I can reach the end of the game. I’m tempted to search some local bargain bins for the first game and give it another run-through. I think the first was a bit superior, in a good many ways: creepier, deadlier, and less limiting with inventory.

I think I’m going to try and finish Oni in the next week or so, too.

In other news, I finally got around to seeing The Forbidden Kingdom this past Tuesday evening. Needless to say, I have ideas. Many ideas.