Steamed to perfection

Well, I picked up Half-Life 2 via Steam last night. If you ever saw the promo videos for the game: yes, the graphics really are that good. Worth the price of admission just for the atmosphere and graphics.

I've seen no evidence so far that the AI is a giant leap forward like the marines of the original Half-Life. Still, you can't ask for everything, I suppose.

The executive summary so far (2 hours in) is that it's rather like the original Half-Life - linear, superbly scripted and cinematic. It differs somewhat in that it sets a new bar for PC graphics, whereas the original wasn't winning too many prizes for graphics per se.

Q. If Half-Life 2 was a film, what film would it be?

A. 1984.

I'll follow up with a more complete review upon completion of the game.

In other news, the early reviews for Vampire: Bloodlines are looking good. Maybe that'll be the next game on the list. Much more of a RPG than a shooter, of course.

Tags: gaming, half-life 2

Radio Melancholy

I often feel a strange sense of melancholy when a story I like ends. Books and games seem to have this effect on me the most.

I Love Bees finally came to an end on November 9th. For those of you who missed it, the game had a substantial audio component which actually works very well as a standalone sci-fi radio drama.

Download it while you can.

Their budget was about a million bucks. Apparently they spent most of it on studio time. The acting is good quality but the writing is truly superb. I've been playing it to my fellow carpooler (who didn't play the game) and he seems hooked so far.

Of course, there's a lot of Slashdotters etc. who think of the ILB game just as a big advert for Halo 2. Which it was, of course, albeit a subtle and well-crafted one. That's not to say that it wasn't also a wonderful story.

I read an interesting post the other day that pointed out that almost all media are really just there as ads for commercial products. TV is just a hook to get you to sit through the ad-breaks, commercial radio the same way, newspapers exist due to print ads, etc. All I know is that if all ads were of the ILB quality the world would be a nicer place to live in.

Tags: gaming, arg, I Love Bees

This Just In

America chooses Faith over Reason and gives the rest of the world the finger.

With all of the precious checks and balances now in the hands of the same corrupt puppet, it's going to be a rough 4 years.

Alas.

Tags: politics, bush