Some Recent Reviews

I know I don't do enough advertising when it comes to my writing, so this post is a bit of a catch-up for Reviews for New Super Mario Bros. 2 (3DS), Ghost Recon: Future Solider (PC), and The Walking Dead: Long Road Ahead (PC).

New Super Mario Bros. 2 (3DS)
I think it speaks volumes that I'm still fooling around with this during my commute. Coin Rush is revisited at least once a day to "challenge" StreetPass records of random strangers, but there's still one "World" I have yet to open and it's bugging the hell out of me. I know there's a way there -- otherwise why would it be included on the map? -- but I'm trying to stay off Gamefaqs. I'd like to find the secret and I'll bet it's a path so obvious that I'm missing it because it's in plain sight. Also: The game is a re-telling of the film Scarface.

Video Commentary: The Attempt

Over on The Armchair Empire's official YouTube channel, Mr. Nash has been providing an assortment of commentary and video for the last few months but it's only recently I've tried my hand at doing the same thing.

I've done two videos so far, one for Prototype 2 and the one above for Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. There's plenty of room for improvement on my part but it is quite fun though I don't think it will replace my written articles.

Playing Inverted

Hours and hours of my early gaming life was spent playing Wing Commander, X-Wing, Tie-Fighter, and Stunt Island. (One of my earliest memories was playing the original Falcon on my XT.) In those games, the Y-axis -- the up/down axis -- was always inverted. Pull down on the joystick and the nose of the craft would incline; push the stick forward and the craft would angle downward.

The control method ingrained itself so deep into my brain that when consoles began to come packed with controllers that featured dual thumb sticks -- and even before that with the N64 controller -- I played with the Y-axis inverted. (Playing with mouse and keyboard, this issue just goes away.)

Gears of War, TimeSplitters, Prototype 2, Halo, LA Noire, Batman: Arkham City, Rainbow Six Vegas, Stranglehold, Max Payne, the list goes on... games and series that I've played inverted. It helps to cement that Y-axis quirk that was established so long ago. So, when I come across a game, especially a modern game, that doesn't feature the option to make that switch (or even makes it the default control preference) it's enough to completely stonewall any enjoyment I might otherwise squeeze out of the game.

Right now I'm thinking specifically of Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. The PC version of the game.