the Andrew Bailey

No, it's not different this time!

Rage Screenshot, driving through one of the many canyons

Rage

I've been sitting on this one for a long time. I bought Rage when it came out; I might have preordered it. Hey, I don't have any other id game, they seem to be rather reputable (they made the FPS genre), and a wizard lives there, so you can't go wrong, right? Well, it's easily my third worst gaming disappointment.

Bastion Screenshot

Bastion

So it turns out that thanks to the Humble Bundles, I have not played over 80% of my Steam library. I figure that now's a good time as any to start chipping away at it. Games ain't going to play themselves, right?

FarCry screenshot showing a beach camp

FarCry

For the sake of nostalgia, I decided to reinstall FarCry again, even though I have reviewed some bastardized (but fun) sequel and its sort of successor. This is a game that I have no doubt played for hundreds of hours, alongside SimCity 2000, StarCraft, and later, Oblivion. The game is from 2004, the great FPS year. As such, it predates PC DVD-only releases, so the game comes on 5 CDs instead. Holy crap! The game is giving me grief before I've started it.

A screenshot of Black Mesa, looking out over a desert

Black Mesa (Mod)

A long time back, Black Mesa was released. This is a Source mod that is a recreation of Half-Life. It has been in development since 2004 or so, when Half-Life: Source was released, and everyone discovered that it was pretty much the same thing from 1998. Originally this mod was called "Black Mesa: Source", but Valve kindly asked if they would drop the "Source" part.

StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm screenshot, showing Kerrigan in combat destroying bunkers.

StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm

Since I have expressed my thoughts on the first installment, I figured that it is time to talk about the Zerg. It's something that you need to talk to your kids about. Though they might have thoughts about experimenting with them, Zerg are very dangerous. While Zerg abuse is not a top killer, once addicted, the subject's fate is certain.

Alan Wake speaking to Dr. Hartman.

Alan Wake

A recent Humble Weekly Bundle had Alan Wake in it. Seemed like a good deal at the time, so I picked it up. I have been playing it over the last week, and I have a few words.

A Sins of a Solar Empire screenshot, with the Vasari assaulting a volcanic planet

Sins of a Solar Empire

One could say that I enjoy strategy games. A lot. Sins of a Solar Empire is another one. It is slow like turn based strategy games, but is technically a real time strategy. It is also a "4X" game, whatever that means. Something like explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate. That seems to describe it quite well.