So having purchased Prey via Steam for the ridiculous price of $4.95 (Seriously, the Live Arcade port of Asteroids isn't even that cheap) I didn't get around to playing it until Sunday night. I'd say it's worth the money, it's got some neat out-of-body puzzle mechanics and there are lots of funky parts where it messes around with gravity, even though I still have a headache from it. Though you'll more than likely finish it off in one or two sittings, I beat the game coming in just a little under the five hour mark, and the sad thing is I was really ready to get to the end about an hour before that. I know there's only so much you can do with a game entirely set on a giant alien spacecraft, and it certainly was a refreshing change from all the military-themed shooters as of late, they also try their hardest to vary it up, but you start to get tired of looking down metal corridors after a while. There are some nice touches of interactivity in the environment, because who can't resist turning all the faucets on an off and flushing toilets in a game, and the radio broadcasts you stumble upon featuring a fake call in show hosted by Art Bell (of Coast to Coast AM fame) add a nice touch of polish. Overall I'd recommend the game and suggest you at least give the demo a shot.
So, having been eagerly awaiting opening day for the Cardinals regular season (Which is today, I'm sure anyone still in metro area is painfully aware), I stopped by Blockbuster on my way home Friday and picked up MLB2k8 for the 360. I can't believe I'm saying something like this, but it's unfortunate that EA no longer makes baseball games, and that the only other next-gen baseball game is exclusive to Sony systems, because if you want a baseball game on the 360 this is the only game in town and it's not getting it done. It has the same problems since the series debuted on the system two years ago; Bad framerate, sluggish controls, repetitive commentary. They've done nothing to address these issues, instead opting just to throw a fresh coat of paint on the game and put a new number on the box. It's nice that this time around they've got all the minor league teams in the game and I like the new pitching mechanics where you make gestures with the right analog stick for different pitches, but that's about all I can say that's positive. It uses the same commentator voiceover lines from the last two games, which I'm sick of hearing because they were in the last two games. I've lost count on how many times I've struck out on pitches that were clearly balls (With the game showing you an instant replay, almost like it's trying to point out how much it sucks in case you missed it). The Inside Edge reports, which you spend team funds to purchase that show you things like, in the case of a pitcher, where they're most likely to throw the next pitch, are almost never right. Also this may be nitpicky, but one of the biggest stories to come out of the game late last season was the remarkable comeback of Rick Ankiel, everyone was talking about him, and they can't even find a fucking picture of him to put in the game? Instead as you scroll through the Cardinals lineup you'll see headshots of Pujols and Molina and Wainwright and then you'll hit Ankiel and be greeted with this robotic looking picture of his in-game character model. I'm done with this series, which is unfortunate, because I don't think it's going to change. So long as they're the only baseball option for 360 owners, they can get away with it, and I'm not prepared to lay down $600 for a PS3 just to play MLB 08: The Show.
I played through Rainbow Six: Vegas again, this time on PC, not much to say about it. As a game in the Rainbow Six series, it's big step up from Lockdown, but overall a far cry from its former greatness. Though taken as just another action game, divorcing the franchise's history from my memory, it's a pretty good shooter.
I watched the Star Wars Holiday Special, which was made just bearable thanks to the provided Rifftrax commentary. If you're unfamiliar with the premise, it aired around Christmas time in 1978, and it mostly follows Chewbacca's family (His wife, son and father, named Mala, Lumpy and Itchy, respectively) as they await his arrival to celebrate the wookie holiday "Life Day." This, naturally, means being treated to poorly animated cartoons featuring Boba Fett and musical numbers by Jefferson Starship and Bea Arthur. I couldn't imagine watching this without having the MST3K crew around to make fun of it, considering the first ten minutes or so is literally nothing but Chewie's family screaming at each other.
Planet Earth on HD-DVD continues to be spectacular, but I have to stop watching it while I'm eating because there's a good chance that at least once or twice in every episode you will witness one creature kill and devour another creature in crisp, clear high definition.
-K.
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