Monday, March 3, 2008

Previously On Lost: Pikmin and Drill Dozers Play with Lego

Jonnie and I finished the Lost game, and he is now going to try desperately to sell it on ebay. All in all, it was a pretty shitty game, but I'm glad I played it. But that's mostly because Jon spent his hard-earned money on it and not me. If I had paid $60 for it, I would definitely feel differently.

Again, I don't wanna spoil anything so I'll keep all of this as vague as possible. Elliot's backstory turned out to be mildly interesting, especially if you're a follower of the mythology covered in supplemental stuff like The Lost Experience. For the most part though, it was really nothing special. The real interesting part of the game, story-wise, was its ending. Again, no spoilers here, but the ending of this game presented a crazy twist the likes of which we've never seen on Lost before. If this could be considered "canon" - in that it's a theme that will also be explored on the TV show - then this ending opens up some very interesting possibilities. If it's NOT canon, then it will probably be directly contradictory to the TV show. I had to find out if this ending was sanctioned by the creator's of the show, or if it's just weird fan-fiction slapped together by some Ubisoft hack. A buddy tipped me off to this interview, which states that Damon Lindelof himself came up with the ending. Interesting.

Anyway, the game is worth playing for die-hard Lost fans. Both for the ending and the decent amount of fun that is to be had by exploring your favorite locales from the show. Just make sure you RENT rather than buy, because the game is only like six hours long, and is mostly dumb bullshit.

So, what else have I been playing? Well, having reached a part I just plain can't figure out in Phoenix Wright, I decided to take a break from it for a while and play my newly-acquired (for $5!!) copy of Drill Dozer. This game is just fucking wonderful. It is Nintendo at its best, combining classic old-school gameplay with a fun and fresh new mechanic. Esentially, every level is a miniature little Metroidvania environment, which your character must explore. The twist is, you are in a giant Drill Dozer, and must drill through various blocks, structures and enemies in order to advance. As you progress through each level, you find additional gears for your drill, which allow you to access previously blocked areas. The whole drill thing may sound like a one-note mechanic, but it's really quite impressive how many interesting platforming ideas they got out of this seemingly-simple action. The fact that you control the drill with the shoulder buttons and that the game has a built-in rumble feature adds to the fresh feeling of drilling shit.

My one complaint about the game is a complaint I have about 90% of platform games: that the developers felt the need to throw in stupid-ass water and flying levels. I fucking hate water levels. They are the worst, most annoying part of any game they're in (including Super Mario and Donkey Kong Country games. They interrupt the flow of the gameplay, and in the case of Drill Dozer, the core gameplay is so fine-tuned and perfect, that it's really a bummer when you have to swim. Or fly. Flying is even worse. I just encountered the game's flying level, which introduces an awkward and annoying new control scheme, and to make matters worse, I suspect that this is the game's final level. Now that's really lame! As annoying as the swimming levels in Mario games are, at least I don't have to swim around fucking Bowser as my last dumb-ass action in an otherwise brilliant game! That would put a little bit of a damper on my Drill Dozer experience. But, like I said, this is just a theory so far. If I can ever BEAT THE FUCKING STUPID FLYING LEVEL, I'll confirm or deny the validity of my hypothesis. Even if it turns out to be true, however, 90% of this game is pure brilliance, and I can't recommend it enough. I really hope Nintendo has the sense to put out a sequel on the DS or dare I say WiiWare.

I also beat Lego Star Wars. What a beautiful game. I am really looking forward to Lego Indiana Jones and Lego Batman. It seems to me like Lego has created one of the most potentially brilliant franchises of all time here. They can keep making sequel after sequel, retaining the same addictive gameplay, but applying an awesome new license to each one. That way they can keep the series fresh and interesting, while at the same time drawing in new legions of fanboys for each game. A cursory glance at the Lego website reveals that the only other current licenses are all pretty lame (Harry Potter, Spongebob Squarepants, Avatar), but I'm sure if these games continue to be successful, the possibilities will be endless. Imagine a Lego Resident Evil?? Holy shit, that would rule.

I've also just rediscovered my Wii's capabilities as a Gamecube, and have begun replaying Pikmin. I loved the shit out of this game when it first came out, but I never beat it. I basically played until success seemed hopeless, and then started again, and repeat. I guess I'm doing it again now. But, so far, I'm doing pretty well. I've been playing for ten in-game days, and I have ten parts of my spaceship reclaimed. Not bad, so far. Unfortunately, I just wrapped up the game's first two locations, which means I have to venture into the stupid horrifying Forest Naval level, with its fire-monsters, maze-like layout and endless creepy beaches. To make matters worse, I just lost all my yellow Pikmin except about 25 in an against-my-better-judgment attempt to take down a big-ass ladybug. I forgot that a couple of them were holding bombs, and then BOOM!! Oh god it was sad. I don't know how I'm going to go on.

But all the dumb shit I just wrote is totally moot compared to the fact that SMASH BROS. BRAWL COMES OUT THIS SUNDAY. I can't fucking wait. Holy shit.