PixlBit

I should've gone back to Battlefield 3 today, but that game kind of depressed me. So many realistic people gunned down in the street. I kind of didn't want to see more of that. So I tried out a bunch of stuff I got for free at one time or another in my virtual game collection on XBO. 

But first, I tried to play some Minecraft with Mark but the online was so laggy again, I couldn't take it. This time I got crushed by a cave-in without actually seeing it happen. My character must've froze in place in the code while my character's graphic was still moving around. I got a message I was really dead. Then I quit. I guess they're still working out the new version. 

So then, I decided to give episode one of Minecraft Story Mode and try. One episode is two hours long, so it's not short. I found I got really caught up in the story - very well written, I thought. I was however, as always with TellTale games, a little bit bored. There's was just some QTEs and a few point and click moments to keep you at the ready. It was fun to see all the monsters from the game in the story, though. And, it was very well done. I guess I might have continued it if I had the money. 

Then I gave Prominence Poker a spin. For some reason, I was hoping for a story of some sort. Silly me, it's just Texas Hold 'em poker online with a customizable character. I made a character, played one hand with randos and stopped. 

The good experience with Minecraft Story Mode made me think I could play some Life is Strange, a similar but much more interactive game. I was really impressed. It's a very intimate experience, though, and not for bros who are trying to outdo one another for achievements. I played the whole first classroom scene. I love that the main character is in a photography class. It's right up my alley. The writing is excellent and every little detail in the game is carefully designed. I love the journal that serves as your menu screens - really cool. There are pictures and text and drawings like a scrap book. It's just the sort of thing I'd like to do with a blog. Anyway, I'll get back to that one when I have some alone time. It's a little too personal an experience. It's liable to unearth feelings. E-gad! To think a game can do that. It's really great what people are doing with the medium. It's really pushing it into something more special than shooting at things.

Finally, I started Lara Croft and the Temple of Osirus, a kind of twin-stick shooter style game with environmental puzzles and rad boss fights. It looked really great and played great too. I was hooked for the rest of the night. I loved dropping land mines in the midst of battle. You can use it to manipulate objects in puzzles as well. I got pretty far but didn't finish it. Maybe tomorrow.