Three treats, few tricks for a BG Halloween
This past week, I was unfortunate enough to come down with a case of bronchitis. This meant no Halloween outings for me but fortunately, I managed to find the means to entertain myself. One DLC release, one new game release, and one new series managed to keep my attention throughout the weekend and helped make the coughing and wheezing a little more tolerable… With a few notable exceptions.
I don't think they want candy...
DLC Release – Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare:
I mentioned this one a few days ago with my list of 5 games I was trying to avoid. The upside of getting sick was that I had a lot of free time on my hands last week and so the DLC for my favorite cowboy simulator was up first on the list.
Treats – New weapons and new single player missions have us back in the saddle again as John Marston. John’s on his way back to the farm when the weather gets weird and the varmints start acting a tad strange. The intro is just the right amount of spooky and tacky, letting us know there’s going to be some scares and giggles on this particular ride.
The plot of the DLC shouldn’t come as any surprise when it mentions “Undead??? right there in the title. There are zombies, you’re a badass gunslinger, you can figure out what happens. As you blast your way through the zombies, you’ll find out some deliciously ghoulish stories as John re-visits some of the towns and peoples he came across in his original adventures. And you may just get a twisted kick out of how the storyline progresses. There’s a whole new world to love and explore if you have the time and the inclination, of which, I had both. new Multi-player goodness round out this offering.
Tricks - Some of the new challenges are evil… as in really hard. If you don’t care about the challenges, you’re going to be missing out on one of the two new outfits as well as some special weapons and so on. Those of you who have finished the main storyline may not like where this one leads. Also, we have zombies but no new mini-games? It seems to me that there were several opportunities missed with this bit of DLC. I mean, c’mon, give us some “Running of the Zombies??? or something. Overall, it was a great play but if you’re determined to do every mission and every challenge, you may want to set some time aside where no one will miss you for a couple of days.
New Game Release – Fable III:
I forgot all about this when putting my list together and I should be ashamed for that. I’ve been looking forward to this title since I put the sequel to rest… which would be the day before this title launched. Its predecessor was able to draw me back in on the odd occasion and I was happy to see the feel and play of the series was maintained with this latest installation.
Pretty much as awesome as it looks...
Treats – The story of Albion and its people has been a fascinating ride and the latest story sticks with that tradition. For those who have enjoyed the previous titles, this one is a “don’t miss???. The game begins with the next generation of the Hero line as the player is immersed in the role of the second story Hero’s offspring. 50 years have passed since the events in Fable II and we see what has become of the kingdom since the Hero fought off the last challenge to Albion’s well being. As has become usual with the series, there’s a lot of running about, a lot of great humor, a “moral standing??? system influenced by your choices and actions, and a really good story to be told. There’s a villain here that is truly creepy and may have you turning the lights on when you’re playing along. You’ll have access to better weapons in this iteration and the magic school has been changed up to be somewhat more Busy Gamer friendly. But all of that isn’t necessarily a good thing…
Tricks – By my calculations, you could conceivably play through the storyline in roughly 2-3 hours. That’s if you decide just to stay on the main path, not power up your character, forego the minigames, etc. That isn’t entirely bad and overall the ease of finding a multiplayer session and the time investment required may make this one of the Busy Gamer friendliest hack’n’slashers out there. The downside is I didn’t feel nearly as emotionally invested in the characters as in the previous titles. If you’re not careful, the end of the game can actually sneak up on you even given a sort of “doomsday clock??? towards the end. And good or evil going into the final story, it’s your bit of actions that determine where you stand in the moral landscape, even if you destroyed entire villages along the way.
That isn’t to say there’s not a lot to do here when the story is said and done. There’s a remarkable amount of things to do once the main plot is complete and many will find themselves looking to team up with friends to eke out as much as they can from this title.
New Television Series – The Walking Dead:
I really have a hard time believing this is the first attempt at a television series based on a zombie apocalypse setting and it’s also hard to believe AMC is the channel to break that ground. It had to be done sooner or later and there are a lot of things to like, and dislike, about the new series.
Treats – Zombies! The lesser respected, much more (in my opinion) scary, and considerably less sparkly minions of the undead world. They finally get some TV love with this series based on the monthly comic series created by writer Robert Kirkman and artist Tony Moore way back in 2003. The storyline is on a “so far, so good” line in regards to sticking to its canon which has been in print for all these years. Having been a fan of the comic, it’s actually good to see the story on the screen match those of the pages.
Like this... but on TV. Awesome.
Tricks – The series was never shy about doing away with main characters. This has the effect of keeping a monthly comic new and inspired but for a weekly series, may be too much for the everyday viewer. There are sure to be complaints of, “well, I stopped watching the series after so-and-so died??? which is sure to happen as viewers pick favorites. Of course, those of us who read the series are likely to know who lives and who dies based on the story we see unfold before us which may make it a struggle for the writers of the show to continue referring to the comics if they wish to surprise viewers. Part of the charm of the comics, however, is the knowledge that someone you’ve enjoyed seeing for several issues may bite the big one and come back as a zombie in the very next panel. I’m hoping the show stays true to the canon rather than trying to embark on some ratings scheme that makes the show resemble the comics in name only.
As an aside, if you haven’t read the comics, I highly recommend them as well as the two games mentioned above. If you want your Halloween to continue on till Thanksgiving, you’ve got some great choices with the material above.
Gritskrieg – End of Line
