New (to me) Game Impressions

Today is day 2 of NaBloPoMo, and I don't want to give up just yet. Seriously, could I even look at myself in the mirror if I couldn't post on my blog for 2 consecutive days? Probably not, so here is the latest effort.

Having spent some money over the past few days on games from Steam during their big holiday sale, it came time to actually install the games on my computer and test drive my purchases. Here are my impressions from the games that were installed at this point in time: Braid, Osmos and Trine.

First, let's talk about Braid. It's the first game installed and played, and the one I spent the least amount of time with. Not because of anything involving the atmosphere, the graphics, the story or the challenge, because all of those aspects were just as advertised by the gaming press. The problem I'm dealing with right now is the PC control scheme, which involves the keyboard. At this point, I don't own a PC gamepad, and, strange as it may sound, this is the straw that might break that camel's back. The best analogy I can come up with to liken my experience of playing Braid with the keyboard is to try to play the first Super Mario Bros. with the keyboard. It's doable, sure, but is it fun? Acknowledging the fact I'm human, I don't want a somewhat artificial struggle with the controls to color the experience with a highly regarded game in a negative light. I'll certainly revisit this one after picking up a decent game pad.

Next, to touch on Osmos. Essentially an atmospheric puzzle game in the vein of fLOw, but with a failure state that fLOw didn't, it possesses a charm and aesthetic that's hard to ignore. The Green Pixels review describes the game better than I ever could. Having only spent a minimal time with it so far (20-25 minutes), I can safely say that I'll be coming back to it, most likely at a time when I could use a breath of fresh air or something to help me relax. Also, since I picked it up during the Steam sale for $1.99, I consider it a fantastic buy.

Finally, Trine. This is the game that piqued my interest the most, mostly after playing through most of the Steam demo earlier in the year, but not buying the game at that time solely as a financial decision (I do have a family to support, as much as the inner child in me may not want to admit). It's easiest to describe this game as a physics-based puzzle-platformer that allows you to freely switch between 3 different characters at will. What's not to love? There's great voice narration and character voices which are used to flesh out the story, and the keyboard and mouse controls work in this instance. I've worked my way through the intro level and the first level so far, which means I have a long way to go. It's not often I say this, considering the constraints on my gaming time, but I can definitely see myself completing this game.

If you read my earlier post talking about what I've bought from the Steam sale so far, you'll notice that these games represent about 30% of what I've purchased, so there's still some work to do to sample all of the new purchases. My impressions on these will follow in the next few weeks, unless some other shiny penny distracts me. I'm similar to a crow in that respect, in that I can't resist the urge to get wrapped up in something new when I have plenty of things (in this case, video games) to keep me occupied already in my possession. Maybe that's another challenge to work on in 2010, to stop being distracted by other things and keep my focu...hey, wait! Is that a new Mass Effect game coming out soon?