I am not a big "gamer." I suck at FPS's. I get unceremoniously slaughtered on Halo (1, 2, doesn't matter). I think the last game I beat was Super Mario Bros 3 for NES.
But I am a Star Wars fan, and I'd been waiting for The Force Unleashed (Wii) for over a year as it was delayed over and over. It came out on Tuesday, and I was looking forward to enjoying an exploration of the world between Ep III and IV, honing my dark side skills, and just whooping ass on everyone, clone and rebel alliance alike.
So I have enjoyed the last few days, swinging the Wii remote like an idiot and force pushing and choking thousands of SW people as Vader's dark apprentice. BUT...
It's over. I beat the game in 8h30m. That's it. I can play the game over from the start, keeping the enhanced force and lightsaber abilities that I earned on my way through the game, but it would just be going back through levels I've already seen. Like I said earlier, I am no kind of expert gamer. So when I beat the game so quickly I was dissatisfied, let down.
I waited and pre-purchased for this? It's over? Upsetting.
The goods:
Interacting in the Star Wars Universe is a lot of fun. Good diversity of characters and worlds.
The story is good. Really good. I can spoil the story if anyone is interested. It's a great connection between the end of the Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope.
Two-handed lightsaber/force fighting is a lot of fun.
Choices of lightsaber color, force-enhancing crystal, costume, and other unlockables
Finally being able to use force lightning and force push is saWEET!
The bads:
I already said it's short.
Not much depth or creativity in most of the fighting scenes-- tough scenes often just means large numbers of stormtroopers shooting you.
Graphics were inconsistent. Sometimes it's blocky, sometimes it's really cool. I don't really have the specific ways to explain...
There's a romance in the story that is just thrown in and unnecessary.
All in all, I am glad I played the game, but I will be selling it back today. There's a "jedi duel" mode where you can play vs other players as jedi that you unlock, but I played a little of it and it's not great. The different jedi have different animations, but there aren't any different abilities that I could find. So Mace Windu behaves just like Aayla Secura, Darth Maul, and Obi-Wan Kenobi, except for the intro... Weak.
Maybe I'm just comparing this to the neverending fun I've had as a SW fan playing Lego Star Wars: the Complete Saga. That game is incredible. Becky and I have logged days on that one, and we're about 45% complete. So much fun.
After beating the game last night, I thought about how this summer has been terrible for both Indiana Jones and Star Wars. Becky and I saw the Clone Wars movie in the theater. I dragged her along. That movie was awful. A New Orleans gay Hutt? "Snips" and "artooey"? Turrible. We also saw the Indiana Jones movie. Aliens? Commies? Really? Has George Lucas decided to destroy in one summer the cool and clever legacies he invented? It sure seems like it.
I haven't really kept the blog up with my personal life recently, so here we go--
Most of my time is currently absorbed by my classes for my master's degree:
Introduction to Public Administration: This class is mostly reading covering the history, theory, and practice of public administration. It's interesting stuff, and I'm learning a lot about the structure and nature of our country.
Economics and Public Finance: Really cool class, but the material is not easy. We were just exploring cost-benefit analysis for public works, and part of the chapter was talking about valuing human life. woo!
Research and Analytic Methods: Once-a week (4 hrs) session where we talk about statistics and methods of understanding what the public wants. Good to know. For this class, I'm working up a paper exploring local attitudes toward a Christo & Jeanne-Claude project planning to drape the river upstream of Canon. I'm really interested and I think it'll be a good paper.
The real event in life right now is getting ready for the baby. I'd like to say that we've got the house all baby-ready, but we're not even close. I still want to get the living room carpet replaced, and we're working hard to combine the dog and cats so we can have a room for the baby.
Other than that, I have a project with a friend of mine from the old job. We're going to build a house for some people. Should be a good amount of work, but also some good money. If they ever sell their current house, that is. Nothing physical proceeds without the funds from that, but we've submitted for a permit so we can get moving when they sell.
One more thing: I have been waiting for today for a long long time. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed comes out today, and I have had it on pre-order for a while. I've actually been waiting for it to come out for over a year (it kept being delayed). So I'm working hard to get ahead of my classes so that I can devote thursday-friday to playing it while Becky's at work. Glad I got the Wii's cooler fan unstuck.
Oh yeah, the Rockies are not doing well (understatement). My fantasy football team has no QB. Sports is getting pushed aside in favor of Dadlabs.
...answer phone calls ...show up for work ...keep up my strict hygiene regimen
It's likely due to the fact that Becky and I made an investment in our sanity this winter. Yeah, we got the Wii. And yeah, it's that cool.
Becky also sacrificed a LOT to get us Guitar Hero 3, which is my new obsession and brainspace occupier. We'll be bringing it out when we visit people, so everyone can get a chance to play "Slow Ride" as terribly as we do. You're the bees' knees, baby.
Of course, as soon as we got the game console, the weather turned beautiful. The snow will come eventually, and I think we will be as happy as clams, shut up in a warm house blasting hair-band jams back and forth.
If anyone wants to post a comment about how to do the friends thing (since I immediately dispose of instruction pamphlets), please do so.
