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June 28, 2008
Media Glutton: Senseless but Fun Violence: Conan
I've recently rediscovered the joys of renting videogames. Even though they cost more than a DVD, it turns out that renting a game is the perfect solution for the way I usually play games - which is to say, not all the way to the end. There are notable exceptions, those being the exceptionally notable games like Bioshock for example. But most of the time I don't get around to making it all the way through. Five or six days of solid play is all I really need.
I started with the Conan game for the X-Box 360 that came out a while back. I'd played the demo and thought it was kinda fun, but not worth buying, and that initial reaction still holds true. But it's definitely worth renting, assuming that is that you've got a hankering for bloody sword swinging, button mashing combat, and rescuing bare-breasted digital maidens from harms way. The game is straight forward, much like the title character. Each level has you slashing your way through an environment, fighting mostly human or humanoid type opponents. There are occasional puzzles to break up the action, but nothing too ridiculous except for a couple jump puzzles that had me wishing one of the game developers was sitting next to me so I could slap him.
The gameplay has a good balance of experience and variety. you can wield any weapon you pick up from your fallen foes, and there are three basic styles: sword and shield, two weapons, or double-handed weapon. Each style has its own combos that you can spend experience points to improve. I liked this customization system quite a bit, and the fact that the game makes you spread out among the styles because certain foes are more susceptible to certain kinds of attacks (although by the end of the game I was all about swinging the biggest two-handed sword I could find). You also gain some magic powers which are all sort of interesting looking but boil down to the same thing in the end: an area of effect attack against everything around you. I like the one with the demonic ravens that tear apart everything in a swarm around you the best.
In the five days I had the game I think I even almost finished it, although I got tired and frustrated with fighting the final bad guy on the last day and so felt no qualms about returning it uncompleted. So hey, if any of that sounds fun, I say rent it or maybe even buy it used if you really like chopping things up or looking at 3-D models of topless women in slave-girl outfits who say "Crush me with your love!" No, I didn't make that last part up, that's really in the game. And more power to 'em, I say. Well, more power to 'em and hopefully they'll use said power to hire better writers.
Posted by rdakan at June 28, 2008 12:46 PM