Retro Game Friday: Indiana Jones The Infernal Machine

This week for Retro Game Friday I’m covering a game that I can barely remember playing. It’s Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine!

Plot Synopsis: The story of the game is set in 1947 and depicts archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones returning to his digging career after his involvement in World War II. Sophia Hapgood, an old friend of Indiana and now a member of the Central Intelligence Agency, visits him at his dig site in the Canyonlands, and informs him that the Russians are excavating the ruins of Babylon.

Plot: I’ll be frank I don’t remember much of this game. I remember having fun, but that’s about it.

Gameplay: I played the 2D version of this that was made for the GameBoy Color, so despite it being a port it was actually the full game. It was however really frustrating to die and have to restart a level, and I’ll be honest puzzle clues were pretty non-existent. These are pretty much the only things I remember, probably because I got so annoyed at the game.

Art: It was purely 2D so it’s aged alright, but it’s also not that amazing.

Music: I don’t remember it at all, sorry.

Overall: Probably worth skipping playing, but if you want the story you can probably watch a Let’s Play on YouTube or something.

For those who like: Puzzles, Frustration, Indiana Jones.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Retro Game Friday: Battlefield 1942

This week for Retro Game Friday I’m covering the first entry in a series that is incredibly popular now. It’s Battlefield 1942!

Plot Synopsis: Look up World War II.

Gameplay: This was a pretty revolutionary game at the time, as it had a massive amount of players that could play in a single match at one time. 64 players was pretty amazing. As for the rest of the gameplay it follows the now standard Battlefield formula of capturing locations and holding the majority of them to slowly whittle away the enemies spawn tickets which let an enemy respawn upon death. 1942 also allowed players to pilot various vehicles ranging from Jeeps to bombers. This made the matches get really insane when you had all 64 players playing.

Art: The art has aged poorly, but that’s to be expect of a 3D game.

Music: I don’t remember a whit, I was having too much fun gaming with my friend online.

Overall: It’s might be worth a try if you can get a free copy, but I’m pretty sure the servers for online play are down now so it’s not really worth spending any money on this.

For those who like: FPS, Military Games, World War II, Vehicular Mayhem.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Retro Game Friday: Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood

Hey all I’m back to daily posts, and it’s starting back up with Retro Game Friday. It’s all about Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood!

Plot Synopsis: Desmond’s story continues where it left off, in 2012. After escaping the Templars’ attack at the end of Assassin’s Creed II, Desmond Miles, Lucy Stillman, Rebecca Crane, and Shaun Hastings flee to Monteriggioni, establishing a new hideout in the ruins of the Villa Auditore. After restoring the electricity in the old tunnels under the villa, the player once again takes control of Ezio Auditore through Desmond’s genetic memory, using the Animus 2.0 (which is the game’s memory interface). Their mission is to find the Apple of Eden, an important and mysterious artifact that could prevent the impending disaster that is coming in that same year, believed to be perpetrated by the Templars…

Plot: The plot of Brotherhood was pretty amazing, and while it’s the first game which featured the same person as the main character in the past, it wasn’t bad at all. Frankly I really enjoyed the plot of Brotherhood, although it’s not quite as good as ACII, for reasons I won’t name due to spoilers.

Gameplay: This plays quite a bit like ACII, although it included use of horses inside Rome and added the Brotherhood function, which was more than a bit overpowered if you took the time to level the members up as soon as possible. Doing so would allow you to pretty much empty entire missions of guards by whistling for an assassin to take each of them out, which they would do flawlessly after getting to the max rank.

Characters: While many characters re-appear from prior games, I still think that Da Vinci was the best side character in the entire game.

Art: The art has aged, however good news for those who haven’t played Brotherhood is that it along with ACII and Revelations were remastered for HD quite recently for the latest generation of consoles.

Overall: A solid entry in the series, although the Brotherhood functions were more than a bit overpowered.

Sensate Saturday: Zero The Man of the Creation by Ai Eishi

This week for Sensate Saturday I’ve got another Quick Review. It’s  Zero The Man of the Creation by Ai Eishi!

Plot Synopsis:  There is a mysterious and resourceful man who goes by the name “Zero.” An expert on artworks, antiques and ancient artifacts, Zero is adept at rooting out their histories and uncovering any unusual qualities they possess. Because of this, he frequently gets called on to dispel “curses” and to both uncover and create forgeries.  Zero is a man who will stop at nothing to see a job done, but he will also charge whatever fee he deems appropriate: it might be a billion dollars, or it might just be one.

Plot: The plot of this first chapter was excellent and also really informative, as someone who has studied Art History, although not the subject covered in this first chapter, I was highly intrigued and captivated by this plot. I won’t say it’s the best thing I’ve ever read, but it definitely scratched the Art History itch for me and that’s more than enough to make me pleased. Sadly while the series is complete in Japan it’s only started to be translated, so I’ll probably need to wait a few years (probably more) before reading the rest of the series.

Characters: Zero is a really interesting main character, and while it seems that the rest of the characters introduced in this first chapter are going to be just one time characters, you never know.

Art: The art is excellent, although it’s definitely not like more modern series, but that’s not surprising since the first chapter was released back in 1991! It is a Shueisha publication so I expect the artwork will stay consistent.

Overall: This was a really interesting read, and any Art History buffs will enjoy the series greatly.

For those who like: Mystery, Art History, Excellent Plot, Fantastic Protagonist, Great Artwork.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Manga Monday: Golden Kamui by Noda Satoru

Hey all, this week for Manga Monday I have another Quick Review. It’s Golden Kamui by Noda Satoru!

Plot Synopsis: In Hokkaido, the far northern lands of Japan, Sugimoto survived the Russo-Japanese war of the Meiji era. Nicknamed “Sugimoto the Immortal” during the war, he now seeks the riches promised by the gold rush in hopes of saving the widowed wife of his now deceased comrade from the war.

Plot: The plot is pretty awesome, I was pretty much instantly hooked after this first chapter, hopefully I’ll get to read all of it sooner rather then later. I do want to point out one more thing about the series, it is award winning, so take that how you will.

Characters: Sugimoto is a pretty interesting guy, it’s pretty obvious he’s dealing with serious issues from the war he fought in, despite all that he’s a pretty stable fellow. The rest of the cast we’ve met are pretty much nameless, but they look fairly interesting from this first chapter.

Art: The art is amazing, but once I looked up who the publisher was I wasn’t surprised to find it was Shueisha. That being said it is very graphic, so those with squeamish stomachs should probably not read this.

Overall: This has me hooked, so I’m going to give it the go ahead. Plus it’s an Award Winning series, it can’t be super terrible if it’s received an award.

For those who like: Historical Fiction, Military, Drama, Action, Adventure, Romance, Excellent Plot, Amazing Cast of Characters, Fantastic Artwork.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.