Monthly Archives: April 2014

Trying a new batch of games

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My backlog at Backloggery is now down to 323 unbeat (277 unplayed) from 338 unbeat games from my last post on the subject. That’s a nice bit of progress, but keep in mind that I don’t mind marking games as null, thus removing them from the unbeat count, if I get sick of them and decide they’re not worth more time. I played some games that I thought I’d enjoy like I normally would, but I also played some that I thought I wouldn’t like with the intent to cross them off my list quickly.

hinterlands

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

I usually open with WoW mainly because I don’t want to talk about it here. I already talk about WoW much more at Kor’kron 501st. My warlock has reached his 40s and just finished the Hinterlands.

DC Universe Online

I also started playing DC Universe Online. Again, I talk about it at Kor’kron 501st because it’s an MMO, but I’m playing a mentalist hero, and I just beat the Scarecrow.

Super Mario 3D World

I’m enjoying this a lot, but I still liked Super Mario 3D Land a lot more. I’m currently in World 4.

The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition

While I don’t have much to report, I began playing this again. I put it down a long time ago now, so it’s nice to get back into it.

Rhythm Heaven

I beat one level. Does that count as progress?

Star Wars: Tiny Death Star

I have some terrific news about Tiny Death Star: I stopped playing it. Good bye.

cc3d

Chuck’s Challenge 3D

I finished the fifth bundle, Eclair, in Chuck’s Challenge 3D. It was a lot of fun; I really love this game.

Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls

I picked up the Collector’s Edition of Reaper of Souls when it was released and have been having fun with it. I’m taking my time, so I haven’t finished the new act yet.

Ticket to Ride Europe

Thanks to Collin for letting me know that this was available for free. I never played the board game, but the iOS game is fun. Unfortunately, it’s pretty easy, but I still enjoyed it.

Scotland Yard

Here’s a DS game I wasn’t expecting to like as much as I did. I was looking for a quick game to cross off my list as boring, but I ended up needing to beat it. It’s a board game as well, so I might need to check out the physical game. Scotland Yard involves multiple detectives and one criminal, Mr. X, taking turns moving around a board. Mr. X wants to last until the turns are expired without being caught while the detectives want to land in the same space as him.

Mystery Tales: Time Travel

One…

Hidden Mysteries: Salem Secrets

…two…

Murder in Venice

…and three bad hidden object games I was able to cross off my list quickly.

Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of Osborne House

Here’s another I thought would be bad. It seems to be a lot like Layton although they don’t explain the goals of the puzzles. That could be a little annoying, but it was fun enough that I’ve decided I’ll return to it later.

Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of the Mummy

Oh, another Sherlock Holmes game. This is bound to be like the last one, right? No. This one was a terrible first-person exploration game with dismal controls. Next.

Naval Warfare

Naval Warfare is a Steam game that’s basically a “twin-stick shooter” using keyboard and mouse. I can’t say for sure whether I’ll want to play it to completion, but it’s worth keeping in my backlog.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War

I’m not usually a big fan of RTS games, but this was decently fun. I highly doubt I’ll beat it, but here’s another I’ll leave on my list.

Again

Speaking of “again,” I find myself leaving a game on my backlog again. Again is a DS game about the FBI. One agent can see the past and must match the present to look like the past to unlock scenes of what happened. It could be decent!

The full bob’s game now on Kickstarter

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bobsgame

[Updated on 5/23/14.]

Can this really be happening? Pelloni now has a Kickstarter for the full bob’s game for PC, Mac, Linux, and Android. He’s hoping to raise $10,000. At the time of this writing, he’s raised $1,515 with 28 days to go. I think he’s going to do it this time. I’m also a big fan of his reward tiers – or tier, rather. For $20, “You get access to the full single player campaign when it is available, a premium account for the online service, access to a special forum, and other goodies!” I actually have a lot of respect for that.

Is it sad that I actually had a dream that I met Robert Pelloni last night?

There’s a nice, long history written at bobsgame.com as well. You might want to check it out!

Thank you to everyone who continues to check out my site and keep me informed. I received comments about the new Kickstarter on my last bob’s game post by wot is bobs gam, killamo187, and anonymouse, so thanks you three! Also, thanks to gBev for keeping up the Bob’s Game Mailing List.

As usual, I’m going to update my master post on bob’s game here on Polygons and Pixels, The strange tale of “bob’s game.” I’m going to consider this Act X. That’s a nice, round number. It sure would be nice if this is the one that leads to an actual release!

Update, 5/23/14: The Kickstarter succeeded yesterday!

All done with Castle Doombad

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Castle Doombad

When my friend Joe told me about Adult Swim’s new iOS game, Castle Doombad (developed by Grumpyface Studios), in February, I immediately bought it. I’m a fan of some of their previous games, so I was excited to play this new one. I don’t intend this post to be a formal review, so I’m not going to worry about going into too many details on the game. However, it’s a tower defense game in which you try to protect your captured princess from heroes. You can beat a stage by ensuring a hero never rescues the princess, but you can also crown a stage by keeping a hero from ever reaching her. You earn currency in the levels and can use it to purchase new traps or upgrade current ones. In addition, there are thirty tasks called “TO-DOOMS” that reward a second type of currency, used for powerful abilities.

Here you can see that I crowned every stage in the first chapter.

Castle Doombad

And here I crowned every stage in the second chapter.

Castle Doombad

I couldn’t leave the third chapter incomplete.

Castle Doombad

Every good game needs an endless mode, and of course, I played that too.

Castle Doombad

The Summer Slaycation update introduced a new chapter. In this one, there are two princesses you need to protect. I crowned every stage here too.

Castle Doombad

I had to ensure all my to-dooms were to-done.

Castle Doombad

If all the levels were complete, I didn’t really need to make my traps more powerful, but I did manage to unlock and upgrade every trap…

Castle Doombad

…which means that I earned every achievement.

Okay, Adult Swim, I’m ready for another update now.

 

Typing of the Dead: Overkill went overkill on being bad

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TotDO

What a disappointing game. I thought it’d be fun, and it did keep me entertained for the first half of the first level, but my attention declined quickly.

Obviously, the gameplay is simple – type words to shoot zombies. With such a basic mechanic, the levels should be kept short, but instead they continue long after I became bored. TotD:O presents itself in the style of a B-movie, but it’s over-the-top antics felt too forced. It was filled with cliches and sexual innuendo, and I didn’t enjoy it at all.

Modern Dream developed The Typing of the Dead: Overkill, Headstrong Games developed the original, The House of the Dead: Overkill, and Sega published them. I don’t know who’s to blame, but maybe they wanted the game to be sort of meta. As the boring levels and grotesque cliches lumbered forward like a game idea that should have died and but instead was forced into this state between life and death, I can’t help but think the The Typing of the Dead: Overkill has become the very thing you’re tasked with destroying in the game itself.

Whatever. I’m not putting any more time into this game.