Nick Rempe

I am now awake after staying up all night at the Val Air Ballroom in Des Moines watching a fake metal band play.  There is a gigantic difference between watching a normal show and then a show based off a cartoon that airs for 15 minutes once a week.

What they did during the Dethklok show was play video to accompany the music that they were playing.  We would watch an intro video about Tribunal having a plot to turn the fans into mutants in order to stop the cashflow going to Dethklok.  Then throughout the night, we would touch on that story as we were getting other videos between songs.  We also watched the important problems that plague all metal shows and how to cope with them from Facebones.  After that, we took a look behind the scenes which showed what really goes on during Dethklok shows.  This extra content was top notch and I was surprised that they put all this energy into the show.  I thought I was going to go watch a fake metal band play songs and joke about it but I was dead wrong.

The other thing that impressed me was when they would play a song, they would accompany the shows music video with it, but with Murmaider and Thunderhorse, they completely redid some of the art just for the concert.  Murmaider in particular was incredibly well done with naked mermaids killing lobstermen, it was completely insane from start to finish.

I didn’t have any beef other than the typical douches that would roll up to these shows.  Some kids got into a fight, some threw shit up on stage, it varied but I found it very strange from my 27-year old perspective.  I was expecting a 50/50 nerd/douche ratio, I got more of a 3/97.  Which is really disappointing because the show was so well done.  If I would have known they were going to put all this production into this show, I would of been more aggressive in getting people to go.

In conclusion, I have basically seen a 90-minute Metalocalypse episode that you haven’t seen and you never will see.

Fat Princess is on my PS3.

Which means that I have been playing it.  Which means that I have been loving it.  Distill everything that makes TF2 great, add some cuter graphics, remove twitch and add cake.  So far I lean more towards the worker, until I start feeling cocky and move up to a more offensive position.  The way they made being a worker fun yet still feel like you are contributing is great.  The visual cues on screen help a lot and let you forget unnecessary communication or chatter, that is a great thing to have when most people on PS3s do not have headsets (BTW Sony, pack that mother in the boxed product please).

I am done for the night, caffinated cake rush has diminished.  Now for an all day wedding, or should I say legalized naptime?

I just finished all the DLC for Fallout 3.

I did what every noble man who is in love with Bethesda would do, purchase them as they are released.  Sure, I might be spending $50 on top of the $60 I paid for the game, but it is called brand loyalty for a reason.  Much like Apple, there is a tax for being first.

Anyway, was it worth it?  Yeah, I have played Fallout 3 for about 100 hours, which is nuts.  But at $1 an hour for entertainment, I am willing to pony up.  This is what I think of the DLC parts, from greatest to worst…

1.  Point Lookout

2.  Mothership Zeta

3.  The Pitt

4.  Broken Steel

5.  Operation Anchorage

Now I didn’t figure in the level 30 cap that you get when you purchase Broken Steel, just buy that one anyway for the level cap increase.  The game of the year edition will be a steal at $60 and be on sale sometime before Christmas, that is what I would focus on if you didn’t play these DLC components as they came out.

I will talk later but I have some Fallout achievements to wipe up.

(The photo is from Uncharted 2, buuuuuttt…) Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune is in my PS3 and I am playing it a lot.

I need to say that I am only half finished with this game and that my final thoughts will come later, but there are a few things I need to get out there so that I can remember them.  Now on to some positives…

The animation of the characters, facial expressions, voices and overall aesthetic is something that really should be talked about more about this franchise.  I have an overall feeling of how Nathan works in the environment, what he will interact with or how is dialog will fit the situation on screen.  The same goes for the other players, they all feel very real and believable.  These characters are set up to tell an interesting story that is being bogged down by the gunplay.

At the beginning of the game, you are given a few puzzles and environments to traverse through with little conflict.  The combat feels great at some times, which is entirely dependent on how many guys you are fighting on screen.  The sweet spot is about four, when it gets more than that, you start to notice that you are no longer in control of the situation and start to make mistakes.   It is too bad that some of the weapons are hard to use as effectively as you would like when confronted with a large amount of bad guys.  Often, I would run out of ammo and result in using the grenades which were a pain to use because of the tacked on six axis controller functions.  You would have to aim, then tilt for distance.  It takes some getting used to, but right now, I am still not comfortable with it.  The only problem with the combat is that it happens way to often.  You are given a 15/85 mix of puzzle or adventure/shooter.  That means that 85% of the time, I feel like I am not that in control, that almost every confrontation is a gamble to whether or not I will make it out alive.  But in comes the games saving grace.

The cover system is needed and on par with GoW with me.  I find it easy to transfer to other places on the map and hide in cover.  When you are blind-firing, you can get it to work to your advantage as a distraction, but you can also zoom in and start landing in some head shots.  This slows down the progression of the game, especially since I am not the run and gun Halo type.  However, this ultimately creates another problem I have always had with the GoW games, which is the whack-a-mole gunplay.  Basically, when combat happens, run up to cover, stay there, shoot when they pop out, rinse, repeat until the end of the game.  Fortunately, the game mixes it up by adding other elements so that you always don’t feel like you are running through a maze and shooting guys.   The waverunner segment was good, but when it came to completely stopping so that you could shoot whoever was bugging you, it started to show some problems.  It wasn’t fun to ride the waverunner, it was just a new set of legs to make me feel like I was transversing the maze faster.  Either let me shoot or let me drive, being both isn’t working for the game.

My eyes are getting heavy and I need to lay down, I will continue when I finish Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune.  I can already tell that I will end up loving every minute of the game regardless of the combat flaws.

See The Informant, it is good.  I would show you my tickets on my eyes but I threw them away with my Panchero burrito.