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Dead Mans Draw – Shiver me Timbers !!

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Dead Mans Draw is a card game in which you collect cards to generate a high enough score to beat your opponent.

There are several different card types which each have their own unique skill. From steal to discard & even combo moves where two cards combine to double your collected cards.

After a few stages you unlock the ability to use a trait which gives you a rechargeable power move you can use during the game. I have unlocked the ability to destroy a suit of card on the opponents deck & the ability to see the next three drawn cards.

It does not have a multiplayer mode which is a shame so you have a series of matches to play leading up to a tournament. Like all board games there is an element of luck involved but when you pull off a seven card draw whilst reducing your opponents score & double up with a combo to receive 14 cards it is very satisfying.

Deus Ex Human Revolution – Completed

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I have not played the earlier Deus Ex games but if they were anything like Human Revolution then I pray for a HD remake so I can play them. Everything from the soundtrack, combat, stealth, hacking to the character voices was spot on.

I eventually unlocked all the abilities earning enough experience points & purchasing piraxis kits.

So many choices throughout the game that effect the outcome of the plot & none more so than your final decision.

If I had more time I would definitely play the game again to try and earn one of the more difficult achievements & see the alternative endings.

This game is so enjoyable that it has to be added to the Top list taking the number to 34.

Dear Esther (Mac): COMPLETED!

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esther0027I’ve had this sat on my Mac’s hard drive for some time now, but being a non-console game it never crosses my mind to play it. Not least because connecting up a TV and a controller and so on… Today I had a couple of hours free and a game a couple of hours long was available, so Dear Esther came out.

First, I should point out this isn’t a game. I know there are people who would argue that it is, but it’s no more game than it is fish. It’s a story wrapped in a mostly linear walk around an island. A confusing, broken story relayed out of order in paragraphs both lucid and on the edge of insanity. Walking to various places triggers a section of plot, and eventually your wandering leads you to the radio mast you can see in the distance from the very start of the game.

paul0033And there it ends. Along the way, if you’re lucky, your exploration will reveal a little about who you are, who Esther is, and why you’re on the island. Or it won’t, as these story snippets are apparently random.

I think I found enough to make a sense of the proceedings. Perhaps not the sense, but I can certainly make some organisation of the information my playthrough revealed. Er, not playthrough. As that implies a game. Which this isn’t. No, really – you do no game stuff.

jakobson0017But was it good? I don’t know. I’m glad I experienced it (narrowly avoided saying played there), and it was pretty and clever, but I’m not sure how much more I got out of it via this medium rather than by just reading a short story. It didn’t help that you move so slowly, artificially extending the length of the notgame. It took me only about an hour and a half in total, and even though the vistas were nice and the cave drawings and chalk scrawlings added a little, I think I’d have preferred more wordy exposition in that time, or less time.

New Game – Trials Frontier

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Yes it is a freemium title & is stock full of in-app purchases but so far I've managed to play without any paywalls. I've unlocked the second bike 'Tango' & I'm currently upgrading so I can take on Butch.

It has the same one not go appeal of the XBLA games just a shame the leaderboards are UPlay registered. Gamecentre leaderboards would have been better.

You use fuel for each track you race & this replenishes over time. Parts are needed to upgrade bikes which you get from a roulette wheel when completing a track.

A world map unlocks new tracks when you complete various missions.

I've got quite a few silver times but not a single gold yet. I think these will come with more bike upgrades.

Now to go find my UPlay username & password ...

WarioWare DIY: leaving it until the last minute

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As part of my drive to get the most out of Nintendo WiFi Connection before it gets turned off, I've downloaded all the extra puzzles for the Layton games, loaded up games with online leaderboards such as Geometry Wars Galaxies, and played a last few games of Mario Kart DS and Tetris DS.

Deep in the DS pile was WarioWare DIY, which I'd never even unwrapped.  I've no idea why, since I loved all previous games in the series, and the idea of programming your own games seems inspired.  So I started it yesterday, playing through Mona's games, going through the initial game building tutorial, and then wondering how I could unlock all the other characters.  I built my own game (Smash TV, so called because in it you must smash a TV), followed the other tutorial, and still nothing.

This morning I found that you have to wait until the next day for the next character to unlock.  Obviously.

This wasn't a huge problem, though, since I went online last night and downloaded loads of extra games.  Some were built by professional games programmers, others came from the "weekly games" which I understand were generated by users.  I had to download one game at a time, which was dull, but it meant that I could then play loads of games last night with varied levels.

None were as good as Smash TV though.