Gaming notes (Lego Star Wars, Pandora Tomorrow...)

I had been hankering for something different for my Xbox. I recently struggled with a few Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow levels, but found it immensely dissatisfying. I think my tolerance for gaming frustration is much lower than it was when I played the first of the franchise. I've been told that the third, Chaos whatever is better, and its been very well reviewed, so I may eventually try that one. Maybe I just don't like stealth games. I may also try Thief when I'm feeling ready.

Prior to that I played and enjoyed Ultimate Hulk. It is what it should be: a large, sprawling Rampage for the next generation. I still haven't finished it, there's only so much tearing shit up that a gamer can do at a time. I do see myself returning to wrap it up and explore the unlockables.

Gun was a lot of fun as well. It delivered on the western shootout themes and high drama of the revenge tale. I don't know if the game's early portrayals of the American Indian was a parody of early movie portrayals, and therefore intenionally offensive, or if it was merely lazy with its ugly portrayal. Later in the game, the indian characters are fleshed out in interesting ways, so the game designers don't seem to have a racist agenda.

Cut to Friday, and my desire for something different: I bought Lego Star Wars. Usually anything from the Star Wars franchise is very much 'more of the same' even when well executed and exciting. This, however, is a departure from the others. Most importantly, this game is playable by novices and advanced gamers, and offers much to all styles of play. If you want to burn through the missions, destroy robots and other villainy, destroying the forces of evil with your light saber, you can do that. If you don't care for the violence all that much, you can spend time poking into the corners of each level, solving puzzles and finding ship parts.

The two-player game play isn't optimal, and the camera is not controllable by the players and ranges from okay to awful. Since both characters must stay on the same screen at the same time (no split screen) Gauntlet style, I've found it's easiest if one players follows the other, even during exploration. This limits the open, exploration available during single player mode.

The characters don't speak, so Jar Jar's return is palatable, and even enjoyable. Jar Jar jumps good.

I returned to video gaming four years ago, a few months after I'd met my (now) wife. I can remember her touching my X-Box controllers exactly one time, and that was to play Tetris. Lego Star Wars convinced her to try gaming again. While I don't think she'll ever be interested in Halo 2, or Gears of War, I forsee the purchase of Lego Star Wars II in our future.