So, I picked up a copy of Neverwinter Nights this past weekend for a LAN party. I have never played a true RPG before in my life, so it was all a new experience for me.

How was it?

Well, we only played a multiplayer game (with Archwyrm acting as the “Dungeon Master”), so I can’t comment on the game as a whole yet, but it had its moments. There was an awful lot of standing around, which kind of got old after a while. The action parts were decent, when we weren’t battling invincible zombies or getting absolutely slaughtered as we turn a corner. I also have major problems with figuring out how to manage my character, so maybe I’ll spend some time learning how the game actually works before we try this a second time.

I preordered myself a DS Lite this afternoon, which is what I decided to do with some extra cash I picked up last week for doing some PC recovery work for a neighbor. I ended up getting a bundle that also includes New Super Mario Bros., which has been my primary motivation for getting a DS from the beginning. Since I made up my mind about getting one, I have noticed that there are several titles that have piqued my interest, including Mario Kart DS (go figure), Super Mario 64 (Because I never beat this on the N64), Brain Age (sounds interesting), Tetris, and a ton of other games that The Shack has blessed with its holy ShackHype™.

Update: Apparently my DS Lite has been back-ordered I dropped by Circuit City after work and got my DS Lite! 😀

I must say that I was a bit of a fence-sitter with regards to Ritual Entertainment’s SiN Episodes: Emergence that saw its inaugural release yesterday on Steam. I preloaded and paid for it practically on a whim with the resolve to support electronic distribution and episodic game content. (The free inclusion of SiN 1 was also a motivating factor, as I had never played it.) A couple weeks ago, however, I got a bit nervous. What if it wasn’t very good?

Continue reading SiN Episodes: Emergence →

I’m way behind on getting caught up with my games. To complicate things, I picked up Quake 4, since the price had dropped to below $30. Sadly my days of preordering are pretty much over, because I didn’t feel justified coughing up full price for a game that has turned out to be pretty much average.

I’m a ways into the game already (since spring semester is pretty much over for me, I have the time to play), and it is pretty good. Visually, it is more impressive than 2004’s Doom 3, and the emphasis is properly placed on the action, just like any worthy Quake successor should do.

The multiplayer is indeed just like Quake 3, but I am happy to report that I narrowly won my first round played online by about two frags. The multiplayer delivers and performs quite well in comparison to Doom‘s 4 player limit.

I’m pretty psyched for Enemy Territory: Quake Wars and will be checking out the E3 previews as they happen in May. It looks like it will be an outstanding game.

Updated Analysis: I was pleasantly surprised by Quake 4. A little sloppy at times, but for the most part it is a safe, solid title. It is unfortunate that despite their best efforts, Raven still can’t be considered an AAA developer. I can’t help the feeling that their total lack of innovative multiplayer contributes to this.