whatchoo playin'

saints row the third


okay holy shit this is ten times the sequel to the PS2 grand theft autos as GTA 4 was. it's better in almost every way, save for graphics, and maybe for some people, driving physics and the lack of an overacted story that doesn't know if it wants to take itself too seriously or not seriously enough.

Driving physics in those games are pivitol.

But I like the driving in sr1. Any similarity? Or is it a broken attempt at "next gen" like the rest of the game

i never played saints row 1, but this is very tolerable. way better than just cause 2 or what little i remember from playing saints row 2, i seem to remember that being pretty bad. it's been a while since i played gta but i'd say the weight of the cars on SR3 falls somewhere between vice city and san andreas, still a little hot-wheely. but yeah i totally know what you mean and this is way better to me than my other experiences with non-GTA games.

but the use of music is also really good, and there's dozens of purchasable properties, and there's a insurance fraud mini-game where you throw yourself in front of cars, and gang territories, and one of the best weapon arsenals i remember seeing in a long time with tons of guns i'm certain i haven't seen yet, and the rickshaws explode when you shoot at them, and besides the usual clothes, cars and tattoo customization, there's also a million upgrades for all kinds of shit, and a pimp that speaks only through auto-tune, and you can choose between several different voices and personalities for your character, including a groaning zombie, and your hand-to-hand fighting styles are like all crazy wrestling moves and suplexes, and there's a tron level because why the hell not.

the game is very upfront with giving the type of things that you'd expect from sandbox games. the basic weapons (including the RPG) are available a few hours in. guns are permanently in your possession once you get them and ammo is cheap. a few missions so far have been a bit challenging, but rarely as annoying as some of san andreas', since you always have a pretty decent arsenal. and the money is plentiful but at the same time this is one of the few games ever that i remember where there's actually a lot of things worth buying. it's like having a bunch of cheats on in GTA but having that be the regular game. you get a massive penthouse after just a few missions. so i'm assuming that the game backs all that liberal player-service by upping the ante through the rest of the game.

i don't think i'm spoiling too much because i've only played nine hours

Just Cause 2 since it's free with Plus. Seems alright.

Only thing I've been playing lately is the original Legend of Zelda on my 3DS (yay ambassador download). It's surprisingly fun to try to speed run; I've pretty much memorized the dungeons by this point, and the location of most of the secrets. It's fun to go hunt for Heart Containers and get the White Sword before even starting Level 1, and then just blast through the first few levels because you're so superpowered.

Forgot how hard 2nd Quest is though. Man.

bought and started playing The Walking Dead game today

pretty cool. i like how it makes you feel like you're in the comic, getting very directly involved in a lot of sophie's choice decisions and having to deal with the guilt and horror etc.

pretty impressed.

i found my copy of final fantasy tactics the other week. still the best. already have like 29 hours before even finishing out chapter 2

just permanently lost my only powerful wizard cause i'd changed her to an archer for one battle and thought she was an enemy when she was ko'd

The screams they give when they KO still haunt me to this day.

Tony Hawk HD. It finally released on PSN a few weeks ago. It features manuals, but not all the trick featured in newer titles. No spine transfers or reverts, or my personal favorite, those tricks within the manuals, like the handstand and pogo.

It's still Tony Hawk, which is awesome, seeing classic levels in HD is great. There are only 7 levels, but fo 14.99, that's an ok deal, plus I hear levels from the 3rd game might be available as DLC.