Up late talking games & writing? You're...

I took a few days off from posting, but I’m back with a few random tidbits… I’ll throw them up here in no particular order while I try to decide whether or not the wife and I should go out and see Cloverfield’s late showing.

Nothing makes you feel old quite like being ready for bed at 8 p.m….

SIFT 2
I think I may have a title, and I’m proud to say that I have thrown myself back into the slow, torturous process of writing again and I’ve got two (extremely rough, admittedly) chapters in the can.

Books
Started and finished Dearly Devoted Dexter the day before yesterday… it’s a quick, fast-moving read. I think the concept of having a sociopathic serial killer for a main character is fantastic, and obviously quite a few people out there agree with me. Personally, I think Dexter comes off as little too warm and likable at times, but it’s probably a necessary evil if the book wants to maintain an audience. CBS is going to air repeats of the Dexter series (based on book 1) that were originally created for Showtime, and anyone who’s interested at all in the material should check it out. A few of the actors seem to be miscast, but the series expands greatly on what the first book covered and actually provides greater depth and more exploration than the source material, in my opinion.

In any event, Dearly Devoted Dexter felt a little rushed but was another solid installment. I’ll be coming back for number three.

Just this morning, I started The Nymphos of Rocky Flats, by Acevedo. It’s about a soldier in the Gulf War who becomes a vampire, and then starts a job as a private investigator when he gets back to the states. I’m not very far, but the first three or four chapters have been pretty solid although I’m kind of thinking that vampires in general have been overdone in every sense. I’m not sure that enough genius exists to bring a fresh, new angle to these bloodsucking creatures who walk the night, honestly… maybe if all vampire novels went away for five or 10 years, they wouldn’t seem so similar and played out. Still, Nymphos seems promising.

Games
Wrapped up Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles with the wife this morning. We got stuck for a long time on one particular level that prevented us from moving forward until we had gotten an “A” rank. Oddly, it was the only level in the entire game where meeting that particular requirement was in effect… every other level simply asked that you reach the end. We busted our humps for a while with no success, but eventually pulled it off by taking turns going solo. Evidently, the points requirement for a good ranking skyrockets when you have a second player aboard, and the challenge seemed stiffly disproportionate to the rest of the game. That particular frustration aside, the game was surprisingly much better than I expected, quite possibly the best on-rails shooter I’ve ever played, honestly. It needed some tweaking and graphics and with the responsiveness of the Wiimote, but the concept and execution in general were a thick cut above what you’d usually expect from a game of this sort. Definitely recommended, although the story sort of falls apart unless you’re already a RE fan.

Moving on to Half-Life 2: Episode One next.