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

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Games: So, Far Cry 3. 

I can't say that I've been a fan of this series, but all the pre-release chatter had piqued my curiosity, and it seemed as though the game was going to attempt to tell a more serious, darker sort of story.

I put about six hours into it over last few days, and... I'm done. I am literally so bored that I am choosing to just quit the game and move onto something else.

Two big issues here. The first is that the story flat-out sucks.

Things started off well with a brutal introductory sequence, but it's hard to invest in the idea that a pasty, spoiled kid becomes a man-killing terror of the islands within the blink of an eye, and that's entirely apart from the fact that it's tough to feel sympathy for a rich douchebag who gets kidnapped while partying in the tropics alongside his rich, douchebag friends.

Making things worse is that the game throws in a lot of misguided mumbo-jumbo about magical tattoos and surreal dream visions. The writers don't really commit to the premise, so it feels stuck halfway between a serious shooter and something that could easily be more supernatural.

The second big problem is that play-wise, Far Cry 3 is as shallow as a dog dish, and turns repetitive a lot sooner than one might expect.

Since following the story doesn't give much satisfaction, the game really needed the sidequests to come through, but they all feel samey after doing just a couple. There's just not much motivation to keep on doing them – the manhunts, tracking down wild animals, delivering supplies... Sure, there's a lot of stuff to do, but it all feels like filler.

It's slightly more worthwhile to liberate a series of small outposts and climb a bunch of towers to unlock the map just because it makes playing the game easier, but again, the game asks players to do it too many times, and there's too little variety in doing so. It's like being handed a giant checklist of chores and working your way through them with a pencil.

The final nail in the coffin is the incredibly underdeveloped skill system. While it initially seems as though there are a ton of abilities to earn, I consistently had a pile of skill points that were going unused because nothing seemed worthwhile enough to invest in. I didn't have any abilities to look forward to, and once I did unlock a skill, I often didn't feel as though there was much difference or improvement -- It's like the developers wanted to include a skill tree to give the appearance of depth, but the game doesn't support or need the skills that they've come up with.

Swimming 25% faster? So what? Shooting one-handed from a zip line? I didn't see a single opportunity to use it in the six hours I played. And so on, and so on.

While the game may be technically solid and certainly competent enough, it doesn't have much going for it apart from a huge area to cover and a whole lot of piddly little jobs to kill some time on. I guess there are worse games to play, but that's hardly a recommendation. With more variety and depth it could have been a winner, but as it is? 

Pass.

********************PR/NEWS/INFO********************

Capcom, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, recently shared plans to release a new fan-made crossover title featuring two of the company’s most iconic franchises.Street Fighter X Mega Man will celebrate the closing ceremonies of the 25th Anniversary of Street Fighter® and kick off the festivities taking place in 2013, when Mega Man takes center stage as “The Blue Bomber” reflects on his own 25 years of gaming greatness. The Street Fighter X Mega Man game will be released as a PC download beginning on December 17, 2012 and will be offered to fans for FREE through Capcom’s official website, Capcom-Unity.com

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Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. announced that Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate will be available on March 5th, 2013 in North America, exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS™system.  A new trailer for the action packed title has also been released, featuring Trevor Belmont's story. Dracula's return is explained during an emotional farewell between Trevor and his son, Simon. Trevor reveals his quest for vengeance of his mother's murder, at the hands of his father (Gabriel Belmont/Dracul), and gives Simon a pendant that contains a piece of the Mirror of Fate.

Developed by Mercury Steam, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate takes place 25 years after the events of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, and is a precursor to the highly anticipated and recently announced Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, and Windows PC. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate reveals the story of Gabriel Belmont's descendants, Simon and Trevor Belmont, as they battle their own destiny only to discover their true, shocking fate.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate will be available on Nintendo 3DS™ on March 5th, 2013.

For more information, please visit: www.facebook.com/lordsofshadow

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Ape Entertainment, in association with independent game developer The Game Bakers, today unleashed a wave of adventure onto the App Store—the Squids Comic App for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Exploring the backstory of the chart-topping game series, “Squids,” the comic app is priced at $.99, which includes the first issue and, for a limited time, the second issue at no additional cost.

Additionally, SQUIDS and SQUIDS Wild West get free updates on the App Store with new content and in particular The Ballad of Clint and Sammo, a mini-comic book in two parts that reveals how the mighty Sammo first crossed path with the most wanted Squids Clint.

For more information, please visit www.ape-entertainment.com

 or http://thegamebakers.com

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