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Thank God for Friday nights. If I only get one night a week to relax, I may as well make the most of it. This Friday consisted of a 6 pub crawl with B and N from last week, as well as B's bandmates S and E. We also stopped by the theater as we walked by to see if anyone wanted to tag along. Managed to pick up L, as she's pretty new and wanted to try socializing with other staff members. Was a fun time. Only awkward part of the evening was when N and I tagged along with B when he went for a smoke and the two of them gave me some speech that was apparently supposed to inspire confidence that I just don't seem to have. Whatever. All in all, a good night.
Anyway, I promised a post about the usual kind of shit, so here we go. I haven't had time to play much lately, in all honesty. The Wii is getting used for Virtual Console games now and then (Contra 3! w00t! "It's time for revenge." "Let's attack aggressively!") and the 360 for Lumines when I feel like letting my brain melt on techno-infused trip-out Tetris but mostly it's all been about Guitar Hero. I'm getting pumped for the (preordered) 360 version with downloadable new songs and honing my skills as I go. Still can't fucking beat Jordan though. Damn Buckethead.
Aside from that, the only recent thing is that the demo for Crackdown hit about a week ago on 360. I downloaded it out of curiosity and gave it a spin. Y'know what? Damned fun. I'd consider picking it up right away if it didn't come bundled with the Halo 3 Beta invite. I've never really given a shit about the Halo games. They're good and all, but aren't really anything than well made generic shooters. I'll probably get Halo 3 eventually, but would need to feel compelled to get Halo 2 first. As the "first chance to get a look at Halo 3!" part of Crackdown doesn't really appeal to me, I'll wait a month or so rather than compete with all the neanderthal-esque fratboys grabbing their copy and immediately throwing it aside in order to get their Halo on. Still, if you have any interest in over the top craziness, check out the demo. It's a 1.25 GB download, but worth the time.
Imagine GTA. I'd really rather not make this comparison, in all honesty, but the game was created by the same guy who made the original top-down GTA back in the day so I might as well. Anyway, GTA is not particularly realistic. It's gritty. It's violent. As mature games go, it may be the most mature game that's seen success among immature gamers. There's a lot of "Hey, this game lets me blow shit up and fuck whores!" people out there, but the game is actually really well written and entralling if you let yourself buy into the universe. It's notoriety in the mainstream is based on horrible things that you can do because the game gives you freedom, it's notoriety among many serious gamers is based on the fact that it's a very well done narrative that simultaneously grants the player incredible amounts of freedom. Despite this though, realism is not very high on the list. As games go, I'm willing to say it's more realistic than the average game, but that's really not saying a whole lot. Still, take that play style and remove any pretense of realism. Now you have Crackdown.
Freedom. Total fucking freedom. You are John Q. Supercop (Name made up and now trademarked. Contact me if you want it, Realtime Worlds) and you have full run of this fictional city. You can actually leap tall buildings in a single bound. Throw busses (still full of people!) at gangsters to splat them. Pile up a big mound of cars and toss a grenade at the bottom, sending them flying several hundred feet in the air. Shoot the living crap out of anything and everything. I'm not sure if this game is supposed to be endorsing wanton police brutality and callousness or satirizing it, but fuck me if the game ain't fun. As I played through the 45-ish minute demo, brutally destroying drug cartel gang member after drug cartel gang member, It occurred to me just how stupid the game's mechanics were. Respawning gangsters? When I died, it said I had a back-up clone waiting to replace me at a spawn point. The hell? Still, I was having too much fun to give this more than a passing thought. This is a fucking good sign. When a game can be as ridiculous as all hell and you're enjoying yourself too much to let it bother you, you have a pretty sure winner on your hands.
The art in Crackdown also bears mention. Again, realism isn't something it's shooting for. In fact, the game is cel-shaded. That's right, cartoon style. Like Zelda on the Gamecube. Still, it pulls it off in a really striking way. It's done much like one of the late 80s onward comic books. Realistic but stylish. Looks like it could be from a photo, but still enough of a cartoon for the artist to give it some personal flair. I dig this shit. The game looks great. Feels like I'm playing through an issue of The Watchmen or The Walking Dead. Art, but real. Real, but art. Whatever. It's good. Also worth saying, the explosions are pretty as all hell.
So those are my impressions of Crackdown. Demo's out now, full game is available on the 20th. Despite how impressed I am with the whole thing right now, I'm going to wait a bit before picking it up. Until this whole "Halo" business blows over, anyway. This'll give me a chance to check out some proper reviews too, so I'll have a bit more of an informed opinion. If you have a 360 though, download the demo. Worth your time and a very entertaining way to blow a chunk of time.
As a last note, over the last few weeks I've had a chance to see both Pan's Labyrinth and The Last King of Scotland. I think I prefer Pan, but they're close. Check out both if you can find 'em in your city. Night all.
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