Games of the week for 12/23/07: Merry Christmas edition

 

Hamza Aziz: I’ve been playing a ton of Halo 3 online lately. Some random guy even recognized me during a match and he made a blog about it too 😀 http://vip-develop.destructoid.com/blogs/Vlambo/first-post-alert-how-i-met-hamza-by-halo--60651.phtml#comments

I also just got Call of Duty 4. Maybe I’ll finally join you in a game, Jim, and a grief the f*ck out of you by mocking your accent … WOULD YOU LIKE A SPOT OF TEA OLD CHAP?!

 

Jim Sterling: Yeah, screw you Hamza, you shouldn’t even be IN this Christmas post, you bloody heretic. Anyway, as far as games go, this week I played through BioShock a second time, mopping up a fair few of the achievements I’d left behind last time.  There’s also been the usual rounds of Call of Duty 4.

 

I’m on the lookout for my traditional Christmas game though. I usually buy one that I play throughout the holidays, but I seem to have everything I want. It’s usually a Prince of Persia, but I don’t have a new one this year. Maybe I’ll pick up Oblivion: Game of the Year Edition just for the Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine packs.

 

Gameboi: I’ve been playing the Burnout Paradise demo, and sadly, I’m not liking the change. I remember loving the original Need for Speed Underground, and despising the thought of having to look for races in the inevitable sequel. Awesome job of Criterion to do the same thing with the ALREADY PERFECT Burnout series. 🙁

 I want to love this game as much as the other ones, but the demo has already turned me off. Considering that this is my favorite racing series, I’m deeply saddened by this. Well, at least until delete the demo, and start playing the infinitely superior Takedown once again.

 

Colette: Mass Effect, better known as the game that almost beat out BioShock for my personal game of the year. This title is beyond amazing. When I need a break from the density, I play Puzzle Quest (as usual) and Dragon Quest Monsters. Just got a copy of the Japanese DS game Nodame Cantibile, so I’m about to get my portable composing on.

 

Knee Row: I’ve been playing Mass Effect, primarily.  Actually, I need to retract that statement.  I’ve been waiting for my life to come to a halt for a few hours a day so that I could sneak in a little Mass Effect every night because I can’t remember the last time an RPG had sucked me in this deep.  I kept buying portable Final Fantasy games and PC MMOs and never quite found that same fix that I got from cracking out on their earlier games.  I’m also taking a break from that lagged odyssey with the solid 60 FPS Call of Duty 4 on the PS3 (probably in the top 3 best looking games I own) and can’t get over how much I like Dude Raider (Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune).  Seriously, I thought the game was going to be completely forgettable and IMHO it’s better than any Tomb Raider game or MTV reality show. I also had a craving this week and beat Double Dragon. That soundtrack is an under appreciated masterpiece. 

The Golden Donut: While the last thing I needed was to start another game, seeing as there are around eight or so I still need to beat, my curiosity got the better of me and I fired up Ninja Gaiden Σ this week.  I quickly realized this was not going to be an easy endeavor as I continued to die over-and-over again.  Still, I’ve stuck with it on the regular difficulty and am slowly making my way forward.

 

 

Chad Concelmo: The Orange Box and Super Mario Bros. 2 and making my nippy 4-day Christmas weekend absolutely perfect. I love winter gaming.

 

Tristero: My torrid love affair with my new PSP Slim continued. I played the Final Fantasy One remake,  Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles, and Darkstalkers: the Chaos Tower. With the thousands of old console games I’ve “not-emulated” on it as well, I don’t think I’ll ever touch another system.

 

Topher Cantler: Not much this week. Street Fighter II and  Ikaruga at home, Rock Band and Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles at Nick’s. STAAARRS!!!

 

Nick Chester: I spent most of the last week in a hotel, away from all of my consoles. (I did realize I had my PSP Slim in my bag when I returned home, but that did me no good while away, obviously.) So on my laptop I have been playing the upcoming episode of Sam & Max Season 2 (which I can’t talk about, sorry. Bye!) and the so far excellent Aquaria. Oh, and Desktop Tower Defense.

But when I am near a console, I have been playing: Rock Band, Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles (playing it with Nyko’s Perfect Shot peripheral — impressions of that coming this week!), and the new Warhawk “expansion.”

 

Grim: I’m still obsessing over CoD4‘s online multiplayer, as well as beating all of the levels on Veteran difficulty (just 2 more to go!). Besides that, I spent a good chunk of time screwing around with the enemy A.I. in Deus Ex. You know a game hasn’t aged well when the sound effect for hitting a dead body with your crowbar is the same effect you get when you hit any metallic object in the game.

 

Husky Hog: Charlie asked if I was interested in playing Ragnarok Online again, unfortunately I decided to give it another shot. I’ve been grinding away and reminding myself why I didn’t keep the install files on my computer. Regardless, I’ve had Halo 3 on my side, which I had the pleasure of playing with an old friend, along with many Destructoid community members.

 

Ron Workmeng: On 360 – Kingdom Under Fire:The Jim Sterling Chronicles, COD4 (Is fucking amazing!), Scene It! (Video Review coming) C&C3, and a few others that I cannot discuss. On the PC – A little GOW, Rise of Nations, Risk 2 (Yes, you read that correctly), Halo 3, and a few others that I cannot discuss. On XBLA Bullwinkle (Yes) N+, a lot of Rez HD, Boom Boom Rocket , Jim Sterling has a boil on his left ass cheek the size of a baseball, SWOS, some furball something I cant remember, Rocketman or Rocketmen(Which is really good) and some others that I cant remember because I am tired. I did get Mass Effect and I cant wait to play it, but I want to make sure I don’t have shit to do for a week because I know I am going to get lost in it.

 

Dale North: Ah, four day holiday weekend! I’ve been playing Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles and Super Mario Galaxy between sessions on various golf games on various systems. Also, holiday parties are better with Super Puzzle Fighter – especially when I’m winning all the time.