Gaming Review: Watch Dogs

Aiden Pearce is a hacker.  He and his partner Damien decide to do a massive hack on the rich patrons of the Merlaut Hotel, a swanky spot owned by Lucky Quinn, notorious Chicago Mob Boss, and the premier destination for the elite and wealthy. During their electro-heist, the hackers become the hacked, and Aiden decides to bail before they get caught.  Unbeknownst to them, their little job did not go unnoticed, and a hit is put out on he and Damien.   

While traveling with his sister and her two young children to the neighboring town of Pawnee,  yes, Parks and Rec fans, Pawnee, the hitmen assigned to him, shoot out his tires, causing Aiden to spin out of control, causing an accident that kills his 6 year old niece, Lena.   

A year later, Aiden is still traveling down the revenge rabbit hole when he is found by Damien, who wants to blackmail him into finishing the Merlaut job.  This opens up the floodgates of Chicago corruption stories, with everything from human-trafficking, to political cover-ups, and even a little more blackmail.  All the while, you're allowed to hack into ctOS, the Central Operating System, owned by Blume (or Google if you want to call a spade a spade), which controls everything in the city from bank accounts to the bridges and steam pipes. 

Uh...I wanted to like this game sooo much more than I actually do. 

I don't hate it.  But it didn't quite fire on all cylinders the way its original E3 trailer did two years ago.  Let me explain. 

Gaming Review: Tomb Raider

OH.

MY.

WORD.

First of all, let me say that I finished this game with 73% completion in about two days.  Now for most games, that would annoy me because I'd feel like there wasn't much substance.  With this game, however, I felt like there was no real choice.  I HAD to finish it.  The story demanded it.

I have played all but two games in the Tomb Raider franchise, and I have to admit that this may very easily become second only to the original.

Pieces of Programming: Tween/Teen Flashback Day

While many of my library kids may never know much of the technology I did as a child, I've found that there is one definite way to bridge our generational gap: GAMING!  If I put a record and record player in front of my kids, there's a good chance only one or two of them will know how to make them work, but if I put an original Nintendo system in front of an eight year old, they'll beat a game that I never could.  In that frame of mind, I decided to host a flashback day for our tweens and teens to allow them a chance to look at how far games have come, and where they may go.  

Coming Soon: Wreck It Ralph

Why I'm excited at the moment:

Wreck-It-Ralph, coming this November, is a brand new cartoon from Disney that features John C. Reilly as a video game villain who is tired of being the bad guy.  In an attempt to feel better about himself, Ralph hightails it out of his arcade game and begins experimenting in other games.  The below clip shows some pretty hilarious meetings with Jane Lynch in a war game, and Sara Silverman in a super-sweet and girly game called Sugar Rush.  But aside from the cool actors behind the scenes, I and I think most other video game lovers will be most frantic at seeing some of our favorite bad guys from real-life video games appearing in Ralph's support group.  I got a glimpse of King Koopa from Super Mario Brothers, Dr. Robotnik from Sonic the Hedgehog, and even a ghost from our beloved Pac Man.

I cannot contain myself.  Can you?

Gaming Review: Uncharted 3 & Gaming Alliance Meeting

Active Cinematic experience.  That's what the lead developers at Naughty Dog call the Uncharted series.  They are not liars.  Playing Uncharted, any piece of the trilogy, is like watching a movie.  Not as good as an Indiana Jones, but extremely better than that travesty Tomb Raider.  And I'm a Lara Croft fan!

Small nuances, for instance how Nathan will gently touch the wall on his way past, or stumble over things, make him a character that is comfortable to play.  I often find myself playing and thinking he's a real actor.  Or that he was at least based on one.  Which he was!  Uncharted's main character,Nathan Drake was based on Harrison Ford and Johnny Knoxville, actually.  Crazy, right?  I know.

I've played each of the Uncharted games, and found that though the creators very clearly designed a male Lara Croft, I'm so glad they expounded on what was missing from Tomb Raider.  Each of the Uncharted games have a plane crash, a train of some sort, and a boat.  Same things each time...and yet I'm always impressed.  It is Nate who makes the game what it is, and his great band of friends (Everyone but his girlfriend/estranged wife Elena Fisher.  She irks me a bit.)

Similar to the  way he touches things, the throwaway commentary he spills out is great as well.  When you're playing and feeling as though you've had just about enough of the shootout you're in, Nate will say something like, "I'm sick of this!"  He stumbles, stutters, and missteps.  He's a fragile character, something most video games won't give us, and that's what makes him so much fun to play.

Gaming News: Telltale Games Makes Adaptations an Art

I discovered Telltale Games quite on accident.  I was cruising through the PlayStation Store, trying to find something new to play, when I came across Back To The Future: The Game, and darn near fell out of my chair.  A playable Marty McFly?!  An all new adventure in the Delorean?  A Delorean I could fly?!  My geek went into overdrive.

The game itself was fun, but it was their dedication to original B2TF fans that I found most amazing.  I think first of all, one of the greatest things to me was that they consulted Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis, the original writers, to make sure their storylines were cohesive and made sense in the Back to the Future universe.  I HATE when game developers and even screenwriters create sequels without giving respect to the original story.  To my personal excitement, Christopher Lloyd not only agreed to allow his likeness be used in the game, but also signed on to voice Dr. Emmett Brown.  GREAT SCOTT! Telltale also secured smaller roles like that of the original Jennifer, Claudia Wells, and made sure to include Doc's dog Einstein.

Credit

Gaming Review: Batman Arkham City

At the heart of every great game is one of two things:
1. A feeling of tangible success at reaching one of the goals.
2. A powerful and well-executed storyline capable of doing through action, what movies do through vision.

At the heart of every amazing game, is both.

The Premise
The story of Batman is not one we don’t know.  It isn’t some strange new imagining of the Dark Knight our parents used to watch or read.  No fanatical director has skewed the characters of our childhood into some fake replica that we can’t identify...(think the He-Man movie, or the “new” Smurfs).  Rocksteady Games stuck to the script, for the most part, and I’m extremely grateful that they did.

Pieces of Programming: Zombie Week!

The idea for Zombie week started with the release of Dead Island, the ultra-horrific but greatly anticipated video game.  I knew my teens would love to get their hands on the game, and that it would have to be an after-hours event for them to really get the opportunity to play it in our teen room.  An exact week after I started working on their night, I got a visit from a dance instructor in the area who was trying to find ways to connect our library kids to her studio.  Her studio is actually a partner of our library, so I was more than happy to help in any way possible.  From chit-chatting with her, we finally decided to have one of her instructors visit the library during drama club and teach Thriller to my tweens!

Thus, Youth Services Zombie Week was born.

Though we called it a "week", the program really only consisted of two programs.  One for tweens and one for teens.  For the tweens, we had a very special Zombie edition of Drama Club, while my teens were treated to after-hours gaming that featured Dead Island{score}.

Our warm up games for Drama Club were Zombie based on this day and included a riveting round of "Don't Wake the Zombie"

Then came actually making our zombies.

Gaming Review: Mortal Kombat 9

There are some game franchises that will forever be a part of the history of modern gaming.  Super Mario is a family classic.  Resident Evil is a horror classic.  Sonic the Hedgehog is an adrenaline staple.  And Mortal Kombat is the reason we all started catching hell from our parents about what we played.

That "ABACABB" blood code got a lot of us in a lot of trouble.

But it was so fun.

Gaming Review: Dead Rising 2

This has been a year of undead.  From vampires to zombies, we've been bombarded.  Whoever designed this game, however, must have a personal belief that there never has seemed to be enough Zombies to go around.

YA Graphic Review: Level Up by Gene Yang

Level Up by Gene Luen Yang
My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Almost every gamer has had this boss battle.
Almost every young adult has had this hurdle.
The one where what you LOVE to do, is questioned by parents who want you to do things that will get you a job.


Dennis Ouyang was bitten by the video game bug when he was six years old but try as he might, his parents refused to even let him have money for the arcade, let alone purchase a home system.  Playing games is no way to learn how to "eat much bitterness", his father decides, and instead steers young Dennis into a life of science and schoolwork.

Gaming Review: Portal 2 (First-Person)

This past week I finished up the solo storyline of Portal 2, and I have been singing the praises of this humorous and challenging puzzle game ever since.

LA Noire - Finis!

I have finished LA Noire but it isn't done with me yet.
What an engaging and cinematically gratifying game!
In the same vein as titles such as Heavy Rain and The Godfather, Rockstar definitely took players to the movies with this one.  Everything about the game, down to the music was perfectly tailored to the experience of being in the troubled post-war era of 1940's Los Angeles.

SPECIAL UPDATE: LA Noire Stories

So one of the major program thrusts I have set for this year is a gaming/literature connection.  I truly feel that games not only increase some young adult interest in reading and math, but that by highlighting the connections, we do more to increase the appreciation of games as a viable genre of entertainment.  With all that being said, Rockstar Games has just made me excited...AGAIN.

Premiering TOMORROW, June 6, 2011, Rockstar Games and Mullholland Books

Gaming: Totally Vegged on LBP 2 and Finally Got my Hands on Noire

So by sheer luck, I happened to be working on a day when someone returned Little Big Planet 2!!!  My library(and many other's) policy is that the patron on site takes precedent over patrons on hold or over the phone, so although there were a TON of holds on it, I was able to snatch it up and give it a whirl for a couple of weeks.  I must say I was very happy with it.  I'm also pulling together my first program at my new library and I FINALLY got my paws on LA Noire...

LBP2:
For those unfamiliar with LBP, you play as your fully customizable Sackperson.

Playing the different levels can earn you all kinds of outfits and accessories to personalize your look and even decorate your Pod.  Being the literal nerd that I am, I tend to dress my Sackperson up as me. LOL  So I was thrilled to see that one of the very first outfits I could find was a librarian-ish one complete with glasses. There are dozens and dozens of options, including some that you can download from private gamer sites and even the PSN store.

This game was far more interesting than the original, but only

Gaming News: LA Noire Is OUT!

I haven't gotten my hands on it yet, but all I'm hearing is amazing reviews and I can't wait to get into this game!!
It looks absolutely breathtaking and from what I hear, the storyline is so well developed that it is almost like playing a movie instead of a game.

Until I can really get into the game itself, why don't you check out the trailer: