Games for 2009... And BEYOND!

[bert_the_turtle]

Dunno, it's still too frustrating and random for me.

Oh, Platypus, the adorable claymation side-scrolling shooter, appeared on the XBox Indie Games section. Good stuff, can't believe I missed it on the PC. Suffers a bit from invisible bullet syndrome and morbus patternus randomus, but otherwise a fine game. I especially like the powerup system; you don't upgrade and upgrade (and maybe lose it all when you die), they're always just temporary. Has coop mode too. Even the wife likes it. Which amounts to me playing it without continues and half the power ups, essentially, her being busy avoiding enemies in the top right corner most of the time when things get tough, and crashing into enemies the other times.

[Xocrates]

Tomb Raider: Underworld on sale on Steam.

If you ever had any interest in the tomb raider games, but decided to pass on this one, I would actually recommend you pick it up. And while it may be true that the game is a bit rough on the technical side it's still the most enjoyable new gen Tomb Raider.

[Feud]

it's still the most enjoyable new gen Tomb Raider.

Perhaps that's because they focused more on what the fans of the series want. Case in point:



Note the distinct lack of both tombs and raiding of said tombs. Instead they seem to have focused instead on a heaving pair of breasts in a tank top, sweat running down them implying that they are likely heaving with each heavy breath, a peak of stomach that's not so sweaty it's gross but enough to make it provocative, shorts that would be all but worthless in any practical spelunking but which help give the eyes something to climb up the leg too, and dirt on the arms to let the boys know she'll play rough but the hair and lips to remind them that she's lady enough to please.

In fact, dare I say that there are some rather crude jokes that may be made about a game featuring such advertising and that is name "Tomb Raider".

[Xocrates]

Perhaps that's because they focused more on what the fans of the series want. Case in point:

And yet, it still manages to be the least fan-servicy game on the series, if only because past the first level you have the option to give her some actual Pants, and a Jacket by level 3.

Compare with Legend where you spent a whole level dressed like this :

[DTNC Vicious]

Instead they seem to have focused instead on a heaving pair of breasts in a tank top,

WHats wrong with that?

[NukeLord]

Note the distinct lack of both tombs and raiding of said tombs.

There's tombs in the background, hidden in the mountains covered in thick fog and obscured by the dirt being flung from her arms. That totally meets requirements.

[Cooper42]

Some undergrads in a Geography & Gender seminar I took last week produced a piece of work on gender and video games, and tried to use Lara Croft as a means of debating the position. Comparing her to stereotypical portrayals of women and men in action games, they argued she straddled an odd divide - clearly designed to appeal to a very standard notion of attractive female body image, yet exhibiting, in action, many of the traits of male protagonists of action games. They couldn't seem to decide if this made her potentially subversive, or, given that she was the avatar for the game, simply needed to embody those masculine action traits in order for target audiences to want to play the game. Frankly, they simply missed the obvious point - that gender portrayals are very muched linked to sexuality, especially in action games and films. Violence in games is essentialy a case of sexualisation, and tomb raider, whilst it may place a (absurdly proportioned and clothed) woman in the role of the masculine colonist, it simply plays on very old themes of dominance over ethnicity. Here the Other is an ethnic and historical Other, which is variously feminised (weaker, open for conquest, closer to nature - consider the animal enemies and level design) in oposition to the modern, masculine explorer and exploiter. Lara Corft is only subversive in that it is the figure of a woman acting the role of the masculine, but her portrayal and her actions have simply turned her into a caricature of femininity; an impossibility and absurdity. A woman doing a man's job as is only possible in the hyper realisation of the impossi-boob world of video games.

[Xocrates]

Let's sum things up, shall we?

Lara Croft - Shallow marketing ploy

TR: Underworld - Fun game, if a bit unpolished.

/discussion

[Blackbeard]

Lara looks quite a lot like pornstar Veronica Zemanova. I only mention it because a while ago when I was doing my Graphics NVQ (HAHAHAHA) one of the other students used to "use" top-shelf mags as inspirantion for his female avatars - he would copy their likeness exactly but put Lara Croft type clothes on them etc.

[Feud]

Gnome Chompski is my hero.

[Xocrates]

Gnome Chompski

*Hides in a corner in foetal position and cries*

[martin]

Gnome Chompski

*Hides in a corner in foetal position and cries*

Why? Everyone loves the gnome!

I have completed Episode 2 a total of 5 times, 3 of them with gnomes

As for Left 4 Dead 2, I've done that campaign twice, both times with the gnome, and completed it once (on medium iirc). It's not *that* bad

[Xocrates]

Gnome Chompski

*Hides in a corner in foetal position and cries*

Why? Everyone loves the gnome!

It's called hyperbole

In honesty, I do like the Gnome. And admittedly it was rather fun rescuing it. But it was fun on the "Oh, god! We're going to die!" kind of way. Although I should note we started our official Gnome rescuing run on Advanced (and ended on easy )

[cheesemoo0]

Medieval II: Total War 75% off on Steam.

GO GO GO GO

[Xocrates]

Medieval II: Total War 75% off on Steam.

GO GO GO GO

I am so torn about that one. Mostly because the Total War series are among the games I feel the most guilty about not liking. I may still get it just because of the 2.5€ price point though.