Adventures in Video Gaming #2

If you read my Adventures in Video Gaming #1 you’ll know that I started playing Lollipop chainsaw and got stuck in stage one. Well, not one to give up quite so easily, I tried and tried again. After about 10 attempts, I decided to change the difficulty to easy, and wouldn’t you know, it took me one try to get past that part.

I’m not exactly a great video game player, so I feel no shame in playing on Easy mode. I want to have fun playing games, not die constantly. I’m more the kind of player who mashes buttons and things die.

I’m more than a little proud to say that I finished the game yesterday all by myself, without having to look up anything in a walkthrough online. The only time I got stuck again was at the end with the final boss. Even on Easy that was really difficult to get past. I soldiered on and eventually beat the game.

So, what did I think of it? Well, first of all it is rated M and it has that rating for a good reason. There’s a fair amount of foul language, blood, gore and sexual innuendos. Not to mention the fact that the main character, Juliet, is wearing a cheerleader uniform through the whole game while swinging around a pink chainsaw and doing high kicks. Panty shots abound. This game is clearly geared towards a more male audience.

Normally, scantily clad women in video games annoys me, but in this case it didn’t really. Juliet is a cheerleader and therefore it makes sense that she’s wearing a cheerleader uniform. What really bothers me is when women are supposed to be warriors but their “armor” doesn’t cover their stomachs or half their legs.  anyone with half a brain would know that leaving your midsection exposed in a battle is a really bad idea.

Overall, if I were to give it a rating, I’d give it 4 out of 5 stars. the game play was simple enough for someone like me to play enjoyably without having to do really fancy moves. It loses a star for the stupid sexual jokes and innuendos.

Happy with my accomplishment but still feeling like video gaming, I decided to revisit Heavenly Sword. I first started playing Heavenly Sword years ago and did fairly well at first. The main character, Nariko, is a sword wielder, who draws the Heavenly Sword even though it’s forbidden to do so. Playing as Nariko is fairly simple, and suites my button masher style quite well.

Unfortunately, after a while you have to play as a different character, Kai. Although Kai is a cool character, if a bit deranged, she uses a bow and arrow only. for me, that sucks. I have the worst time playing first person shooter games because I cannot aim to save my life. Literally.

So, playing years ago, I stopped at a stage where kai is the playable character. coming back to it yesterday, I was again playing as Kai. feeling a bit boosted after beating Lollipop Chainsaw, I kept playing Heavenly Sword long after I would normally have quite in frustration. I actually kind of got the hang of it and managed to progress back to a stage where I played Nariko again. I even finished the chapter I was playing at the time. There, I chose to stop.

Are you a gamer? Have you played either of these games? If so, what did you think? Are there other games that you like that you would recommend?

Adventures in Video Gaming #1

lollipos chainsawSo, as my brain continues to recover from the cold germs that has invaded it and my concentration has not yet returned to the right level for reading, I have decided to play the videos games I have that I haven’t played/finished. Scarily, there are a lot more than I remember there being. I think they multiplied while I wasn’t looking.

Anyway, I decided to go with Lollipop Chainsaw as I had briefly played it at a friend’s how and I remember liking it. I bought the game for myself so I must have liked it. It started out well, as I chainsawed my way through various zombies and made it through the prologue no problem. I had to continue a time or two as I didn’t pay proper attention to my health and accidentally died, but I was getting the hang of it and, I thought, doing pretty well.

Then I got to a part in Stage 1, in the High School, where i came to a part where there is a giant pile of dynamite and I have to keep zombies that are on fire from getting to it. At first, the zombies appear one by one and move pretty slow so they’re no problem, but after a while they pick up the pace and appear in twos and threes. I’ve managed to kill 15 out of 24 required zombies before one of those bastards gets by and sets the dynamite off.

I tried several frustrating times to pass this part and just couldn’t do it. I’m not really sure what my problem is. Am I not strong enough yet? Maybe. It seems like Juliet can’t move fast enough to get to some of the zombies before they get to the dynamite. Then things go boom and I’m dead.

See, this is my problem with video games. I learn how to play them, progress along fairly well, then I get to a point that I just can’t get past, get frustrated and give up. Then, by the time I’m no longer annoyed with the game, I’ve forgotten how to play it and would have to go back to the tutorial to relearn the moves.

This is probably why I have so many unplayed/unfinished games.

Have you played Lollipop Chainsaw? Any tips on getting past the dynamite and fire zombies part?
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Random Update

January was an epic reading month for me! I was on an amazing roll, getting through book after book! It was awesome!

February started out pretty good but then I got sick, and when i get sick, my level of concentration drops to watching animated movies while playing games on my phone with my cat in my lap. (the cat has nothing to do with me being sick, he’s always sitting on me). Therefore, my reading has come to an abrupt stop. While this bothers me, I know there is no point in trying to read until this cold goes away and my brain returns to fully capacity. I won’t remember what I read in this state and that is never good. Especially if I’m going to review the book afterwards.

So, now I’m starting to get a little tired of watching movies and have thought what else I can do to keep myself occupied while I recuperate. Well, the answer that came to mind is is video games. I have several games (probably like 10) that I have never played. Why, you ask, do I have so many unplayed games? Well, probably for the same reason I have so many unread book and undone puzzles. It’s much faster to shop than to play/read/build.

Anyway, I was thinking I should give some of these games a shot, since I obviously thought they looked like fun or wouldn’t have bought them in the first place.

Also, between movie watching, I’ve been on YouTube. I found an interesting channel of these people who make music videos using video game footage and creating their own original songs to go along with the videos. They are very cool. They’ve done all kind of game videos and the songs are amazing. A lot of it is rap, just fyi. You should check them out here.

Anyway, my next post my be a book review, since that’s what this blog is supposed to be about, or I may change it up a little and talk about whatever video game I decide to play.

Want to help me choose? I have Devil May Cry, Assassin’s Creed, Skyrim, Lollipop Chainsaw, Mortal Kombat (forget which number. i have one for ps2 and one for ps3). Any recommendations?