Never say never...

So I gots me a new laptop. My old one was just horrible to deal with (constantly froze and the disk drive was more or less useless). After some discussion we decided to go "new" instead of digging in the dumpster at work or refurbished off the web. (yes, that's where all my other laptops came from.)

My new computer has all the key markings and it's huge. I got an HP Pavilion zd8000 custom. It's a multimedia/gaming system. We can use it for taping TV shows (for Matt) and we got it powerful enough that I can play games.

Yep, I said I can play games on it. I know I swore I would never do the PC games route again. Too many bugs, too many patches, too many driver upgrades and too many "incompitable files" issues. Oh well. Sometimes you just have to accept that once a gamer, always a gamer.

Saying that, my preference will still be to the consoles. It's just simply easier. If a game is going to be available for the consoles, then I won't both with the PC version. Some games never make it to the consoles, tho and now I can play them.

I played thru Uru again. I'm not sure why they decided to take one of the best 1st person adventure/puzzle games and turn it into a 3rd person platformer, but it didn't really work. There really was only one level that I couldn't do the puzzles, the rest of the time I struggled to hit the right spot on a tiny ledge with crappy controls that really weren't designed for platforming. I still enjoyed it more the second time thru.

I went ahead and got the anniversary DVD edition of the first 3 Myst games and the new Revelation. Myst is why I became a gamer. I had tried games in the past, but Myst is what got me addicted. I'm going to play around with them for a bit, then I'll probably get myself Half-Life 2. The main reason I wanted gaming PC... even tho' I do hear rumors that it's going to be released for the Xbox... not sure I want to wait for that tho'

So I guess I should never say never, eh?

The Sphinx is Done

Well, I finished up the Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy yesterday. A really nice game. Not enough mummy levels (but I heard that in almost every review). As an action/adventure player more than a platform player, you would think I would enjoy the Sphinx levels more. Well, the Mummy had great personality and his puzzles were a lot of fun. Not hard to figure out, but not always obvious.

So, I think Deus Ex: Invisible War is next. I did a little of it one night just to get started with it. I think it's going to be my kind of game. We'll see!

Matt started playing Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora's Tomorrow last night. These games are so well done. Takes a lot of patience to play them, but the strategy is a lot of fun (and beats the button smashing killing games).

Woo-Hoo

I'm sure all my loyal readers (Ha!) have been worried about my complete lack of health in Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy. Well, I found some health. I did a little backtracking and found a health source. Whew!! I really didn't want to have to go thru the whole thing again, even though it's been a fabulous game to play. So just finished boss #2 and I think I'm winding down a bit.

Now here's the weird thing. The bosses haven't been that hard. As soon as you figure the strategy, they're actually very easy. It's some of the lesser multiple monsters that I have problems with. Go figure

Anyway, I got a bunch of used games for Christmas and popped Duex Ex: Invisible War in last night just to see. It reminds me a bit of Half Life a bit (the animation and perspective, but I haven't found a crowbar yet...) I'll play it after I finish up with Sphinx.

Ooops, I'm stuck

Well, I sorta screwed up with Sphinx. I did a puzzle area that cost me a lot of health. Then I saved. Now I've got nasty battles with next to no health (one hit and I'm dead). I can't find any sources to reload my health either. I think I'm royally screwed (and this is an over-ride game save system so I don't have a previous save that I can load). I've put so many hours in already, I'm not sure if I have the heart to stop playing, but I know I can't go on with this limited health. I'm afraid that I'm back to the beginning and start over? (I guess part of me hoped that I would "replenish health" if I died. Nope, no suck luck... royally screwed)