catharsis.net

I just got RB3 on Tuesday and have got to say that it’s different enough  so far that it caught me off guard

One of the points of all the previous Rock Band games (and Guitar Hero games, for that matter) has always been to play gigs for cash to purchase new gear, songs, characters, etc. With RB3 there is no currency. You don’t purchase new gear. You have what the game calls “goals.” Think of goals like achievements. As you reach goals (which are pre-set by the game), you can unlock new outfits and instruments.

It looks like you still play to get fans like in previous versions of RB, but as they were previously tied to cash (I believe, don’t quote me), this is another change. You are still limited to certain venues at the beginning, but as you gain fans you can “level up” the band and reach goals, unlocking new things.

Another change I noticed as a casual player is that playing on medium has noticeably more of the dreaded orange button. In previous versions, you had a couple songs that would use it once or twice. I’ve only played for a couple hours since I got it, and it feels like almost every song has it in there at least once. I see this as a good thing, since the orange button is what was keeping me from progressing to the “hard” level, but I could see how people who just play to relax and don’t want to worry about orange could find it annoying.

I purchased the keyboard controller with the game, but I haven’t played with it much. It feels pretty sturdy and they seem to have thought out the differences between “traditional” and “pro” mode controls fairly well. It’s a bit of an adjustment for me with no previous piano / keyboard experience to get used to following the keys on the screen with my right hand instead of my left, but I guess that’s just a part of the learning curve of the new instrument.

So I’m finally getting into the Fallout universe. I’ve heard about the first 2 games (and how revolutionary they are) but just never got around to playing them. Well, now I’ve finally broken into the series with Fallout 3. Anybody unfamiliar with anything Fallout should use the link on the side of the page to the wiki article.

I had less than an hour to play, which was plenty to get me through the introduction to the game. This tutorial portion is fairly well-done in that it walks you gradually through everything from the basics of movement to choosing stats to using the battle system.

I’ll finish up this installment of my Fallout 3 review by saying that I really enjoy how you can play the game however you want to. There isn’t a set path to getting something done. If you want to talk your way out of a situation, you can. If you’d rather use your baseball bat to get your point across, that’s an option, too.

Stay tuned for the next installment!

So here we are.

What can you expect to find here? I’m starting with the intent of providing video game reviews from the point of view of an easily distracted gamer.

Why? Why not. I’ve played a lot of games in my time and have finished very few. This gives me an interesting take on games. There are a lot of games that I play that are really fun but don’t keep my interest long enough to play them out. Some I start and restart because I like a certain part of the game.

Hopefully a few people will find it at least entertaining to read the ramblings of a guy who neither fits into the “casual” or the “serious” gamer category, but somewhere in between.

Thanks for playing along, I hope you enjoy the show!