This is also known as that period of the year where I get to discover new, indie titles while revisiting old classics. Why? Well that's because during the summer there's not a lot going on. Usually my gaming time in the summer is spent finishing up titles that were released earlier in the year because there's no big releases during June, July, or August. Okay, to be fair, Madden is a big release but it has August all to itself. It's a heavy hitter but only because there is no competition to stand against it in August. I haven't been into Madden over the last couple years so my summers have helped me save money for big fall releases, some of which start hitting at early as the second week of September. However we still have a ways to go before September arrives. So the question is just what have I been doing with my time instead of updating the blog? Yes, I have been gaming, I just haven't gotten around to recounting my experiences here in a while. So today I'm going to rundown the titles that I've been playing this summer. In it I hope you find a few suggestions that you might like to check out.
First off, I should note that I'm not really a PC gamer. Honestly the thought of using a keyboard to play games seemed so foreign to me for years that I refused to do it. I was a console gamer through and through. That was until I played the Sims 2 and found that it was actually pretty intuitive. So here it is summer of 2011 and I find myself loving PC titles more and more. Mainly I can attribute this to titles that Andrew has suggested to me. That is why my list of games consists mainly of PC games.
The Sims 3: Late Night
I love the Sims through and through but sometimes I get bored with it after a while. Thankfully Maxis/EA have the remedy for that with regularly released expansion packs. This summer I bought and downloaded the Late Night expansion while it was on sale in EA's online store. Boy did this expansion breathe new life into my Sims world. Of course this meant that I had to start from scratch so I could enjoy the full scope of Late Night's activities and I found myself having more fun with my new Sim than my old Sim. And just like in real life, it became interesting trying to juggle the various aspects of the Sims life without getting into complete micro-managing mode. Sometimes I even took myself out of the equation and let my Sim just carry on with his free will set at full. Thanks to his character traits it led to him basically blowing off his job and having a lot of late nights partying. Very entertaining stuff to peek in on every now and then. Having heard good things about the other expansions I think I might invest a bit more time into this game in the coming months.
Terraria
I never got into the Minecraft craze. Yes I've played the game and I thought it was fantastic but it just seemed beyond me. And frankly like most first person games it made me a little dizzy at times. Still I loved the concept behind it so I was thrilled when I heard about Terraria. Terraria is very similar in that it's a game that is mainly about survival. Like with Minecraft you must mine for materials and resources that will help you survive the onslaught of enemies that will come your way when night falls over the land, except in Terraria it comes in the form of 2-D side scrolling. It's very retro in it's design but with a modern concept and that's why I love it. Well that and excellent game mechanics, an elegant user interface, and pleasant soundtrack. Because of this the game can become a black hole for time as I've sometimes spent more than 2 hours with Andrew in a multi-player world just exploring underground dungeons and jungles to see what new materials we could find. It also has a certain level of strategy to it as you have to craft weapons and armor to protect yourself monsters as well as the terrain itself. Not only that but certain materials you find can be combined to make food and potions that temporarily increase certain aspects of your character. Coupled with the multi-player aspect of the game this can lead to a lot of lost time just digging for new material and discovering new recipes and crafts for your characters to use. If you're a fan of Minecraft I highly recommend it, and if not you still may get a kick out of it. It's currently available on Steam.
League of Legends
I had some history with this game well before the summer. When I got my gaming caliber PC back in March Andrew immediately suggested that I download a free game from a company called Riot Games. That game of course is the extremely popular League of Legends. On my own I had a rough go at it. I played through the tutorials but on my own it just didn't really sit well with me. So I left it untouched for months. Andrew however has continued playing it and I'd be damned if the topic of League of Legends didn't come up once or twice a week. So finally I decided I'd give it another go with Andrew showing me the ropes of the game instead of going through the preset tutorial. After gaining a better understanding of the game and playing a match with other human players I started to get into it. In a nutshell this is more of a real time strategy kind of game. Riot gives you a pre-set list of characters(that rotates each week) to choose from named Champions. Your selected champion, along with a team of 4 other members do battle on a given map. Much like chess or checkers, each team starts on a side at the beginning of the game. From each end to the middle of the map the team has several turrets which act as territory for each team.
The gist of the game is that you and your team need to battle the opposing force and destroy their turrets to advance on their base. It may sound simple but it's not. Over the course of battle you're accompanied by computer controlled minions who take a brunt of the damage from the other team's turrets and minions. Meanwhile your own attacks help to level up your character over the course of the round. Along the way you'll upgrade your attacks which include melee attacks or magic(which requires mana). You will also collect gold which can be used to buy items such as health potions and items to upgrade your abilities in the round. Again this may all sound very simplistic because it's as easy as I could break it down. The game is far more complex than I make it sound and that is why it's enjoyable. There are many different facets of the gameplay that can attract a player. It can get a little crazy but it can also be a ton of fun so I would definitely suggest it. Best of all, it's free so it won't cost you a dime to at least try it out.
And those are the games that have kept me entertained over the last couple of months. The drought is almost over though. Madden releases to the masses next week and next month I have quite a bit on my plate to try and get around to; from the release of Gears of War 3 to the high-def releases of Shadow of the Colossus, Resident Evil 4, and the Metal Gear Solid HD collection. What are you looking forward to in the Fall?
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