Hang Out On The Monopoly Streets!

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Thanks to the Xbox Live Ultimate sale going on now, I got to pick up the game Monopoly Streets for the Xbox 360.  It was released in 2010 and it was developed by EA.  If you are looking for a decent version of the classic board game then this could be for you.

The game play is exactly like the board game except that all the action is on the Xbox, so there are no little pieces to clean up, plus the board is now a 3D city that your onscreen characters run around in.

When you start the game you get to pick your board, your game pieces, and any custom rules that you may want to use: like getting money for landing on Free Parking.  The more you play the more stuff you unlock.

The controls are just a series of menus.  One to choose whether you want to end your turn, manage your properties, trade, or declare bankruptcy.  In the property management screen you point left or right on properties to remove or add houses, or hit ‘X’ on them to mortgage or pay off the mortgage on them.  This last menu is the worst part of the game because it is supper touchy and you may just be trying to go down to check on your properties, but it is adding and removing houses all over the place.

Still having the game on the Xbox means you can play the game in under an hour, and it makes it much more fun that you don’t have to pick it all up at the end.  You can get it right now for $10 on the Xbox live store.

What Makes a Good Video Game?

I was thinking to my self what I would do to create the prefect game, and I have come up with my criteria.

1: Give Me Some Choices

I like to feel like I am making a difference, or that the world is changing because of me.  If the game can only be played one way and has only one outcome it kind of makes me wonder what the point of having me play it was.  I could have watched movie or read a book.  The weightier the choices the better, my favorite game Knights of the Old Republic did this wonderfully.  The choices were hard, and if you wanted to go to the Dark Side they made you feel real bad about it.

2: Make It Look Good

This may seem obvious, and that I am just looking for high polygon counts, but game can be super low end on graphics and have a great art direction and look fantastic.  Games are a visual art, and I want my eyeballs to be entertained.

3: Don’t Make it Too Hard

As I have grown older, I have gotten to be kind of a wuss when I play video games.  I don’t have the time I used to have, so I can’t perfect my technique when I play, so to be able to pick something up and be decent at it is a big plus for me.

4: Have Cool Weapons/Loot

I like upgrading stuff when I play games, whether that is getting new guns or swords, or just being able to try on new outfits, I like to get shiny carrots, and the more the better.  New games having been going away from loot like Fable III or Mass Effect 3, but getting new stuff always feels good, so please leave it in.   This is why Morrowind is my favorite Elder Scrolls game, because it hade the most loot, and the most customizable ways to wear and use the loot.

5: Mix Up the Gameplay

It is good have a great core mechanic like really great shooting or timed sword play, but it is nice to have a little mini game or something, so that you don’t just do that core mechanic over and over, #4 helps with this as well because you get to spend time deciding how to use your stuff.

If a game has these five elements, it will be something that I want to play and give some of my entertainment dollars too.

Tour Albion in Fable III!

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Having played both Fable and Fable II, I somehow totally missed out on Fable III when it came out in 2010, but thanks to Microsoft for giving it away during the end of June, I was able to rectify that.

The game takes place fifty years after Fable II, and your character has died leaving the oldest son, Logan you new character’s older brother, in charge.  He is an evil king and you decide to do something about it by leading the rebellion, and then becoming the king or queen in his stead, queen in my case.

The games core mechanics have not changed that much, you still hit X to swing your sword, Y to shoot your gun, and B to launch your magic attacks, and you can mix them up as you see fit.  Leveling up has changed, now you can open chests when you have gained enough followers to earn new skills and character interactions.  They also got rid of the start menu, now it is a room that lets you walk around and pick your options.

The game is kind of the same old Fable in the beginning with the same fight mechanics, and the same graphics, and even the same landscape.  It is still fun but feels very familiar, but once you become queen then all the fun comes in as you get to make choices that change the future of your kingdom.

Since the fist part of the game is the same as the other Fables it kind of drags in the beginning, but the game soon changes things up and gets much better, and since it was free I couldn’t have asked for a better price, but you can find it for around $10 on Amazon, and it is still worth it at that price.

Shmee plays Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded

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Leisure Suit Larry for all of those that don’t know was a graphic adventure game from the 1980’s.  It was created by Al Lowe, and it was considered to be one of the more popular adventure games from Sierra On-Line.  Larry has fallen on hard times as of late, and his last two games Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude and Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust are considered to be some of the worst games of all time, but none of the original makers had anything to do with those games, but Al Lowe and the crew got the rights back if they made a remake, so they Kickstarted Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded.

If you have ever played Leisure Suit Larry 1 then this game will be instantly familiar.   Besides just giving the game a fresh coat of paint, they also changed up the puzzles,  added new characters, and added full voice and instrumental music.  It is a great update to the game and if you enjoyed it in the 80s; you will enjoy it today, but if you didn’t than this game isn’t going to change your mind.

I am also not a total fan of the new art style.  It looks a little too much like cheap Saturday morning cartoons, but not in a good way, and I think they are charging a little too much for this game.  At $20 it should be a pretty long and current game, but you can knock this game out in like three hours, and it is very old school.

If you are like me and loved this game as a kid than you will probably like this game, but I don’t think this is a good place to start if you wanted to get in to adventure games, and I would wait until the price drops to like $10.  I enjoyed it, but I have nostalgia on my side.  If you don’t, you may want to wait for a newer Larry game to come along.

Shmee Plays Rayman Jungle Run!

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Now I know this game has been out for awhile on mobile phones, but hey I just found it so stop judging me!  Rayman Jungle Run is a 2D side scrolling continuously running platformer, so they pretty much got the idea from Temple Run, but than made it 2D and it stars Rayman.

The game is very simple to play.  Rayman is always running, so to keep him alive you either need to tap the left side of your screen once to jump, hold the left side of your screen to hover, or tap the right side of your screen to punch.  The further you advance the harder the challenges get.  The better you do on the runs the more cool stuff you unlock.

What I like about this game is that they added some more platforming elements, like wall jumping and swinging vines in to the game instead of just copying Temple Run, so it almost feels like a Sonic game, and that is much more fun.  It is a little pricey compared to your standard app at $2.99, but it is so well put together it is well worth the money.

The graphics are nice and cheery, and it brings back memories of playing Rayman on my computer.  The Rayman games used to be the only good platforming games on the PC, sigh, and now I feel old, but it is good to see the old Frenchman has got a few tricks left up his sleeve.

If you are looking for a nice game to play for a couple minutes or a few hours than give Rayman Jungle Run a try.  It has simple but effective controls, and it looks great.