Laboratory of Mathematics and Writing

Fable As young Xbox teen, I was among many that where hyped about this game. The creators of Fable promised the moon on a stick and certainly did not deliver. Initially, we where a bit dissapointed. Ultimately though, we had quite a lot of fun playing it. Overall, we where quite pleased with Fable, even if it didn'y quite live up to the expectations. Playing it back then was a pleasant experience. I recently replayed it and I still had a pleasant experience with it. However, it is showing signs of age. After the Hype Back in the day when I first obtained this game (I still refuse to believe it's been over 20 years ago), I was already deeply enamored with Morrowind. That's another game that's showing its age, but it's an obvious point of comparison before playing Fable. To my teenage brain, Morrowind was a sprawling world with numerous loc...

Max Payne 3 I played the first two Max Payne games on the originial Xbox when I was a teenager. I absolutely adored them. I also finally played Max Payne 3 all these years later. This game, too, was a lot of fun. I can't quite remember how the second one ended, but I'm pretty sure that Max came to terms with the loss of his wife and child by the end and was ready to move one. So, when the third chapter begins with him still unable to let go, it's somewhat jarring. At any rate, the shooting action is about as good as ever, even if the story is less interesting than the first two. Dwelling on the Past The story for the third installment begins with an alcoholic and depressed Max that still refuses to let go of his past tragedies. He carries his scars on his body, his personality, his character, and his very soul. Amidst his drunken depression, he takes on a job protecting rich people in the city of Sao Paulo, Br...

The Greatest First Person Shooter Both of the Half-Life games can be regarded as masterpieces. Anybody that dislikes Half-Life is a hater. Don't make friends with haters. In case you haven't played these gems and are wondering "Do they really live up to the hype?", the answer is "Yes, absolutely!". So, go out and play Half-Life. Both of them. If you're in any way disappointed, you belong in jail. First Experience My first experience with Half-Life is with Half-Life 2 on the original Xbox. I've previously relayed my experience and love of Halo on the original Xbox, but upon finishing Half-Life 2 twenty years ago, I easily concluded that Half-Life is better than Halo. Which is saying alot since Halo is awesome. What's crazy is that Half-Life 2 on the Xbox is a diluted version compared to its original PC release. Despite all of its flaws, it still ruled. I had an absolute blast playin...

Halo We played the shit out of Halo growing up. My tiny circle of nerds where eager for Xbox since middle school when it first came out. All of us ended up acquiring an Xbox eventually. I bought mine in the summer of 2003 right before entering high school. Once we all had our Xboxes, we would endlessly play Halo on multiplayer using system link. Those where the days of LAN parties. They don't exist anymore because they are unecessary. Actually, they only existed for a brief period of time in the early 2000s. Once Xbox Live and online gaming became the standard, there was simply no need for system link. I am getting old. Story Summary We played through the campaign in co-op and had a blast. The story is really interesting. It involves humans warring against an extra terrestrial race known as "The Covenant". They both discover a strange and enourmous space ring they would both call "Halo". One views Halo as a weapo...

Jade Empire I remember purchasing this twenty years ago. As I was purchasing it, the guy at the register wholeheartedly recommended it saying "I really like this game!". It made me eager to play it. As soon as I got home and placed the disk in the drive and began playing, I was very well pleased. Jade Empire is an enjoyable action/adventure game with some RPG elements in a setting that doesn't take place often enough in video games. Teenage Tragedy I played this game to the very last mission. Then tragedy struck. My Xbox console died and could no longer play anything. I don't recall what caused its death, maybe the cpu just simply expired. In any case, I was no longer able to continue playing Jade Empire or Splinter Cell (I was playing them concurrently) and see those games to the end. Talk about a case of blue balls; double, in fact. Now, twenty years later, I am able to finish what I started all those years ago. I still...

Bad Fur Day I first played "Conker's Bad Fur Day" in middle school. Or was it sixth grade? It was 2001 and I graduated elementary and left for middle school that year. I can't believe it's been damned near a quarter century. We played through the story just once and had a blast laughing at all the crude jokes. It's just the stuff a young boy would love. Hell, I don't think I properly matured. I still laugh at fart jokes. And you know what? I can still stare at polygon boobs all day. Anyways, the main quest is awesome, but we had even more fun playing the multiplayer. I can't even explain why it was so awesome. The controls didn't exactly lend themselves to fluid kills. The maps wheren't anything to write home about. Maybe there was just something humiliating about getting killed by a teddy bear or cute squirrel that made us keep coming back. Oh, the trash talking was epic because of that. Immature Lonely Boy ...

Come Out to Play I remember playing The Warriors on the Playstation 2 when I was in high school with a buddy of mine. It was an absolute blast. It's definitely one of those nostalgia trips whenever I think about it or begin playing it. Interesting fact: I played the game before I watched the awesome movie. I just played through it again on the original Xbox and I must say that it's great. However, the combat didn't exactly age well. Everything else about it absolutely stood the test of time, just not the combat. A Grim Setting Despite not watching the movie first, I was immediately drawn into the world of The Warriors. It's world of gangs, crime, drugs, and violence in abundance. The homeless people walking around exclaiming "What do I have to do to make a living around here?!" adds to the dark and gritty setting. It's a hopeless world with almost no economic opportunities. So, the only way to ma...

Cel-Shaded Xtreme Sports Saga I love the "Cel-Shaded Xtreme Sports Saga". That's what I am going to call it. I am not an authority in any capacity, but I am going to make up my own terminology anyways.The Cel-Shaded Extreme Sports Saga consists of three games: Jet Set Radio, Jet Set Radio Future, and Bombrush Cyberfunk. There's probably many more games out there that can be included in the category of Cel-Shaded Extreme Sports, but these are the most obvious selections and they are intimitely linked to one another.All three are absolutely worth playing and among my favorite games ever. If I where to rank them from best to worst, it would be thus: Jet Set Radio, Bombrush Cyberfunk, then Jet Set Radio Future. Jet Set Radio Future Jet Set Radio Future is my least favorite. It's still an amazing game that I will always wholeheartedly recommend it. I just prefer Bombrush and the original Jet Set Radio. A big reason is that the story ...

A Panzer Dragoon Game, Finally I finally played a Panzer Dragoon game, and it was Panzer Dragoon Orta on the Xbox. The only other rail shooters I've played prior to this are Space Harrier (briefly at an arcade) and Starfox. As much as I love Starfox, especially growing up with it, I must say I had more fun playing Orta. It's not a fair comparison, of course. Starfox came out on the Super Nintendo and Orta came out on a much more powerful console. It's still ok to have preferences, and you simply can't go wrong with either of these great games. First Acquiantance I first heard of Panzer Dragoon Saga in high shool, I believe. Or maybe it was middle school. It was nearly twenty years ago. I can't believe it took me so long to finally play a Panzer Dragoon game. Given the rarity, and absurd pricing, of Saga, I don't think I can be blamed too much. Anyways, I read about it in a magazine, probably Game Informer. Th...

Chronicles of Riddick - Escape From Butcher Bay I recently played this game on the original Xbox. Yes, I am going back in time. I actually remember wanting to play this game back then, but never got a chance to. I definitely missed out. I am missing out no more The game revolves around the titular character voiced by the guy who played him in the movies, Vin Diesel. Between his portrayals of Riddick, Fast and the Furious, and XXX, I feel this guy can not have existed any other decade besides the 2000's. His voice performance is terrific in this game and the attitude exuded by Richard Riddick is totally Y2K era. This takes me back in a very cozy way. The gameplay is very good. Controlling Riddick is pretty much what you would expect in any action game. It's hard to say just how groundbreaking this was at the time, but some of the hand-to-hand combat didn't quite age well. It felt a little clunky. Everything else was fi...