Michael Cook’s Place

Today’s post brings a pair of reviews I’ve been meaning to put up for a little while.

In A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World, you’ll learn the “secret” history of what became the US and Mexico between Columbus’s first voyages in 1492 and the pilgrims arriving in 1621. It follows the adventures of many daring conquistadors as they marched around discovering things, while usually quite unprepared. The book includes the stories of the conquistadors who got lost in Kansas, the land being too even to find landmarks to navigate by, as well as the story of the lost conquistadors who walked across the whole continent and got to the pacific ocean more than 200 years before Lewis and Clark. The book is almost a travelogue, as the author goes to visit many of the places mentioned to try to get a sense of what things would have been like, relating his journey to the reader throughout. I enjoyed this book quite a bit, there is an amazing amount of interesting things that happened that history classes just skipped over.

The other book, which I just finished last week, is Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea. I’ve seen a fair bit about North Korea before, so what happened to the North Koreans discussed in the book was not a total surprise. I knew the regime had amazingly strict control over citizen’s lives, and of the collapsed economy and famines. Still, reading the book became rather depressing by the end, even though I didn’t want to put it down so I could read what happened next.

The book follows the lives of a handful of ordinary North Koreans as they endured the country’s fall and the subject’s eventual escape to China and South Korea. The book is laid out in roughly chronological order, switching between the various stories, giving a good picture of what things were like as the North clamped down and the economy collapsed and famine started.

For less than $10 you can get Ratchet & Clank Going Commando from Amazon. The game is easily worth that.

This game is rather different from it’s predecessor in a couple of way. Not only is there widescreen support, but also 480p support, which makes the game look great. The first thing I noticed when I started playing was what was already there: all the moves from the previous game. You start out knowing how to use Clank to jump high and float. This game really drops you into things, without much of a tutorial. The first time you need to do somethings (like the high jump) it’s explained, but only as a quick little text box. You have both methods of moving Clank from the first game (the jetpack and the helicopter), and you are told both exist, but not really why you should use either one. This game is designed as a sequel.

But it’s an improvement. The ability to strafe without having to hover is very nice. The leveling system for weapons is nice (for the most part). Having the action pause while you use the weapon quick-select is a BIG improvement, meaning you don’t have to try to run off into a corner to switch weapons (or bring up the pause menu) during tight firefights. The few space flying sections can be very fun. Being able to increase your maximum health through experience (as well as pickups) is also a nice change. You’ll need it though, because the game gets much tougher than the previous.

The story is good, and the characters are better than last time. Ratchet is a nice guy, and not a flat “I’m a dude” stereotype. Mr. Fizwidget is an interesting character, substituting the wrong words during all his sentences. In a few bits you’ll see characters from the first game. Like the last game, this game can be really hard to put down.

The weapons in this game are, for the most part, very good. If you have a save file from the first Ratchet & Clank you can load some of the weapons from it, but they are all very weak, so you’ll never really use them. The new game has various weapons that you’ll end up using a lot. There is a very powerful shotgun like gun, but it only works well up close. There is a lava gun that isn’t especially powerful but shoots a continuous stream of lava, great for beating back enemies. And then there is the bouncing bomb. You shoot it and a bomb flies out. When it hits a target (or after a second or two) it blasts into a bunch of little bombs that bounce around for a few seconds, seeking towards enemies. Shooting this, especially in confined areas, is brutal against enemies. You can only fire once a second or so, but it’s quite possible to have 3 or 4 going at once, which just shreds anyone trying to kill you in the area. While the screen can get quite crowded from the little bombs and their explosions, the game never really slows down. You may notice the frame rate drop, but it’s completely playable the whole time, which is a very impressive achievement.

The game isn’t perfect. You never get enough bolts to be able to buy all the weapons, or possibly even enough kills to upgrade them all. The ultra-expensive weapons (like the RYNO2) are just off limits to you unless you buy almost nothing else. You are pretty clearly expected to play through the game again if you want to get everything, which annoys me. Most of the weapons get much more powerful with their upgrades, but a few don’t. The aforementioned lava gun turns into the “meteor gun” which just shoots little meteors like bombs. It may be more powerful, but it’s much less useful since you can’t use it to clear out crowds of enemies like you could before. There are two large open field areas in the game where you have to go collect things. The first time I had a blast and went the extra mile to collect every one and had quite a bit of fun. The second time I saw it, it seemed more like it was being used to extend the game, especially since the enemies were so much stronger than your character. The few space sections reminded me of X-Wing and Wing Command, which are two of my all time favorite games. Unfortunately, the radar that’s provided is nearly useless, and the control doesn’t feel right. The joystick is just too sensitive (mostly when turning fast) making following and getting beads on targets much harder than it needs to be. You could do that on a PC because people had full sized joysticks, making it easy to put the stick at 25% left, and then move to 35% left. On a PS2 controller, the difference between 25% and 35% is very tiny and hard to move reliably. Once I got used to this issue (for the most part) these became some of my favorite sections, because you rarely get to do this in games today. I’m not sure I’ve played a game that lets you do this since the Cube’s Rogue Squadron (which was severely hampered by the on-foot sections).

On the whole, this game is an improvement over it’s predecessor, which is rather remarkable. I would happily play this game if it came out today, like the first Ratchet and Clank it doesn’t feel 4 or 5 years old. I’m thrilled I bought this.

I’ve started play Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony, which I’m enjoying so far (only an hour or so in). After that, I’ll probably play the third Ratchet & Clank game. I started trying them with the intention of playing the whole series, and that looks like it will be a blast to do.

I pre-ordered The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks from Amazon, and it arrived the day of release (or maybe the next day). I played the game quite a bit after that until I completed it, including all sorts of extra time running around doing errands and trying to earn things.

The game was very well done. If you’ve played the previous DS game, Phantom Hourglass, you know basically what you’re getting. The game is pretty, and controls very well. The previous game’s biggest annoyance (replaying the same temple over and over again) is fixed. While there is a central dungeon in this game, you skip each section you’ve completed (unless you choose to revisit it) so it’s always fresh. You don’t end up having to play the same small section 6 or 7 times by the end of the game. The various areas are all quite different, and some of the boss fights (like the one in a cavern, and the demon train) are very impressive.

The story is nice, and riding around on the train is a ton of fun. By the end of the game, I wished I could get a faster train though. You can upgrade your train (note: don’t sell your treasures, they are traded in for train parts, the parts aren’t bought), but it’s purely cosmetic. Like in Wind Waker having a matching set of parts grants you extra hearts for your train so you can take more damage, but it’s not really necessary.

The side missions in the game took up a lot of my time. Unlike some games where they feel like boring filler to earn extra money, they are rewarding in Spirit Tracks. Finding and catching all the rabbits (I got almost all) was a challenge. Finding the various extra stations and stops and playing through their dungeons was great. Some of the optional challenge missions (like delivering blocks of ice to the Gorons) proved to be very tough.

If you like Zelda games, you’ll love Spirit Tracks.

At this point, I’m basically going backwards on reviews. I’ve completed a couple of games and I’m posting reviews for them in the reverse order I played them in. The last game I completed before Lost and Damned was Insomniac’s 2004 hit: Ratchet & Clank.

I remember when the game came out. I had finished Jak & Daxter not too long before, so I wasn’t terribly interested in another platformer. I also didn’t see the game’s shooter mechanic as that interesting. The game got good reviews, but I didn’t pick it up.

So more than 7 years later, I picked up a copy. The series has been getting quite high marks throughout it’s life, with X-Play referencing it more than a few times as a great series. After hearing the reviews of the latest in the series, Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time, I decided to start playing the series to see how much I’d like it. There are eight or nine games in the series, so I’m pretty far behind.

The game was a ton of fun, although Ratchet’s character was a little annoying. I’ve started the next game, Ratchet & Clank Going Commando, and they’ve improved that quite a bit. As a PS2 game, it’s very impressive. It’s held up very well, I wouldn’t complain if it was released on the Wii. It doesn’t feel nearly as stale and outdated as 7 year old games often do, which is probably a testimate to just what a good job Insomniac did. The levels are detailed and well designed. The controls work quite well, although a better method of strafing would be appreciated (they fixed that in the next game).

The thing that the series is really famous for is it’s weapon selection. They weapons all felt quite different, and playing through the game gives you a good chance to use them all. The weapons can be upgraded with gold bolts, which isn’t even explained until you’ve beaten the game. The gold bolts are very well hidden, I only stumbled across a handful. The game also has “skill points” you can earn, but those two aren’t listed out for you until you complete the game.

The only thing I didn’t really like about the game was the best weapon, the RYNO. I spent a few extra hours earning bolts (the currency) to buy it, but was somewhat disappointed afterword. Don’t get me wrong, the gun is very powerful, but it made the end of the game too easy for me, which took some of the fun out.

Actually, that’s not quite true. There were a handful of segments in the game using magnetic boots to walk on metal paths that curved around. These paths looked quite neat and it would have been a nice mechanic, but the controls let you down. As the camera moves around when you’re walking, it’s much too easy to step off the edge of the rail. Normally Ratchet would grab the ledge and you could climb back on, but since you are often sideways or upside-down, it doesn’t kick in. Having an invisible rail on the edges of the track that acted like a lip, making it just a little harder to walk off than a normal platform would have been greatly appreciated.

As a whole package, the game is really compelling. Once it gets going (which can take a little while), it excels at “I know I have stuff to do but I’ll explore just one more area” syndrome. It’s very easy to find yourself having played for an hour more than you intended to. The game took me about 13 hours to complete, not including time I spent just collecting bolts, and I didn’t go after the gold bolts or skill points that I missed. As an extra plus, the game can be played in widescreen. I’m really enjoying Going Commando, and I’m exited to play the rest of the series.

With this being repeat TV season, I’ve been playing more games than usual. I have reviews coming for two other games, but I just finished playing Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned. I played it off the Episodes from Liberty City disc.

The game it’s self is unchanged. It’s not better looking, in fact it seemed to me like there was a little more pop-up. The bikes handle better (since Johnny, the character you play, is in a bike gang), and the cars worse (because Johnny can’t seem to drive well).

The story, on it’s own, isn’t that great. I liked a few of the characters (like Jim) that you are supposed to. I hated some of the characters (like Billy) that you are supposed to dislike. But I never really felt connected to Johnny, and never cared about Ashley. You don’t get as much time with them as you did with Niko, but they don’t grab you much.

While Johnny’s story I could take or leave, you want to keep playing because of the way it integrates with Niko’s story. You’ll see another side of many of the missions that happened in the first part of GTA 4, and it’s a blast. You see familiar characters, and the game fills in what happened with some of the rest of the world while Niko was out doing other things.

But the missions in this game are fantastic. Not only is there a new weapon or two (the one they call the “street sweeper” is extremely satisfying), the set pieces are great. In one mission, you are on the back of another guy’s bike driving all around the city being chased by the police and SWAT shooting at them to defend the driver, and it’s a total blast. The final mission throws waves of guys at you. You also get to hijack a prison bus, cause a terrorist incident, and more. The missions really make you want to keep going during each play session. Rockstar really knows what they are doing.

Last is the credits. The credits for GTA 4 were long but kinda fun to watch as it showed you the city. The credits for Lost and Damned show you views of various views of the city, but also sequences of events in Johnny and Niko’s lives. You get to see Niko do an execution and a helicopter view of part of one of the motor cycles chases. The neat part is the views of Niko usually pan around to a nearby area where the Lost Motorcycle Club is riding around, showing you how close they are physically at times. It was a nice little capstone.

Like GTA 4? You’ll really like this. I’m going to play the Ballad of Gay Tony next, which takes place at the same time and will provide even more insight into many of these events. I’m psyched.