Above: 'splodin'.My review of 'Splosion Man is up now at thephoenix.com. This is a nice example of game design. It's not too fancy, but very well put together. I don't even have much to say about it beyond what's in the review! That never happens.
More generally, over the past few years I've come to appreciate the opportunity to step back from AAA titles and explore downloadable games. Although my favorite games still tend to be beefy, narrative adventures with good graphics and all that, these days games for Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network are doing an excellent job of filling the "hardcasual" role. It is nice to pay a few bucks for a game, spend a couple of hours with it, and feel like you've gotten your money's worth. It may not be as rewarding as sinking your teeth into a 40-hour blockbuster, but these days it's much more practicable.
1 comment:
I buy a lot of DLC and Arcade games from XBLA but I don't find most of the arcade games to be just a couple of hours worth of play. I actually wish they were shorter.
What I often find are games that go on for too long and are often far to difficult. Don't get me wrong, I love the games on XBLA and have completed many of them, but for every game that gave me a few hours of fun there are several that were too long or too hard.
That doesn't stop me from buying games like Magic the Gathering (a lot of fun!), the new Worms (haven't tried yet), Monkey Island SE (yuck!), Sam and Max (loved the first episode but haven't returned to it yet), Peggle (yuck although I did finish it) and more.
I personally use AAA shooter and action games as filler while waiting for the next great RPG or DLC for an RPG, but XBLA games are great to play while waiting for the AAA shooer and action games!
Post a Comment