What do you do when you feel out of step with the rest of the world? When everyone has such a high opinion of something, and you eagerly try it out, wanting so badly to agree with all the raves and accolades, but then afterwards all you feel is…disappointed? Welcome to the internet’s first non-glowing review of Uncharted 2.

Look, this is as pretty of a game as you will ever find. It would easily take home the Oscar for cinematography, or whatever the real world equivalent of graphics would be. The section where Nathan Drake is running through the Himalayan village, following the guy in the Crocodile Dundee hat, is probably the closest any 2D representation has come to making a 3D world believable. It was a technological marvel that won’t be challenge in this generation. And, yes, the voice work is very well done. It is clear that the actors take their video game roles as seriously as any ‘true’ acting job their agent may present them. It’s easy to see that everyone involved with this game (opus? Can we use ‘opus’ here? Do we need a new word for this industry’s high water points?) cared about their efforts, and poured whatever they had in the into the final, epic production.

Battlefield 1943 has had me totally hooked for the last couple of weeks. It might be because this is the first time I've done true MMO gaming (I typically played WoW as a soloist), and found out how much fun it is to frag real people (as opposed to being fragged, which happens FAR too often.) That has been a big part of the enjoyment so far. But another aspect, one that might surprise the hardcore amongst our readers, is the pure gaming experience that comes from the stripped down simplicity of the game. You can choose from only three classes (melee-esqe, ranged, or hybrid). Each class has a total of four weapons total, which includes grenades and a hand to hand weapon. There aren't many choices to make, or have to think about. Once you have those basics down, combat becomes very intuitive, allowing you to concentrate about what is going on in the game world, and not with your fingers.

A few weeks ago, I picked up Saint's Row 2, due to the numerous, though somewhat underground, recommendations from my more trusted sites. If there is one thing that stands out about SR2, it is that the game is fun. It knows what it is, knows what it wants to do, and it goes about doing it in a very straightforward, no nonsense, almost in-your-face (haven't seen that term since the 90's, have you? Poochie's dead!) manner. Could it be better, maybe bigger, and with more radio stations? Of course. Better graphics? Sure. And does it do anything you haven't seen before? Nope. In fact, it felt like I was playing GTA III all over again. And that's where the problems begin...

Another in our long line of pointless debates/discussions about the world of gaming, in which my lack of brightness shines through...

Bill
i occasionally play RE4 in my head
imagining different "paths" through which weapons to have at what times :)
did i ever tell you, i unlocked everything in that game?
the wii vers.

Dib
nice
it was enjoyable

Bill
there are 4 uber weapons in that game
a handgun, an automatic, a launcher, and a.... shotgun/rifle?
that last one's a laser weapon

Dib
i can take the herbs, typewriter ribbons, and general sillyness of the settings of those games
but i can't understand why they insist on that contol system
or sligh variations thereof

Bill
raises tension
built-in clumsiness and inaccuracy
i'm not sure i could have unlocked all that stuff on the GC version
though the challenges were the same
the aiming wasn't

Dib
you should never allow your control system to dictate a gamer's proficiancy

Bill
that's a might new-school line of thinking you've got there
nothing "dictates" the gamer's proficiency at operating within the ruleset laid out

Dib
oh, i think mario felt that way from the beginning
press jump, mario jumps
it's almost a slap in the face of gamers

Bill
true. immediately and in a way almost consistent with physics

Dibh

Finished Gears of War 2 last night. Have to say I enjoyed it more than the first one. Very well done game, very polished. If you are an action title fan, or love shooters, you would do well to pick it up.

Played it on standard difficulty, and never got the feeling that getting killed was anyone's fault but my own, even when blasted by a Torque Bow from far far away. There were a few sections that took more than a few tries, but getting through them felt like an accomplishment rather than a relief.

SPOILER - I rather enjoyed the final "battle", if you can call it that. It was a great feeling to be basically invincible after level after level of watching Marcus explode into little bits. You just take a casual stroll, firing machine guns here and rocket volleys there, swatting the flies that buzz around you. While lacking a final boss fight, it felt as if the game was rewarding you for surviving everything it had thrown at you previously.

As for that missing boss, we are now set up nicely for Gears 3. Expect a more interesting story next time around, and your chance to take out the all-too-human looking queen. And what was daddy saying after the credits rolled?

So our two favorite video game news compilation sites, Joystiq and Kotaku have recently undergone redesigns. How do we feel about this? Glad you asked...

Love, love, love the new look of Joystiq. Actually, we had been thinking over the last few months that they were due for a new setup, and the pulled it off extremely well. The new site is very crisp, with the headlines and category headings standing out and being very easy to find. The colors work well, as there is no need to get too artsy when you are just presenting news posts. The stark white of the main background clearly delineates where they want your eyes to go (the news posts), as that is the meat of site, but it doesn't overpower the other sections that you might want to find. From the first time we opened their new page, we were happy. Fine job, Joystiq!

Actually, I just wanted to post something so the loyal readers knew I was still thinking of them. Here are a few bullet points from my gaming world:

- Finished Fallout 3. Didn't do all the quests, but I hit the point where I was ready to wrap it up. Interesting ending(s...played to three different ones), though I have to side with the folks who can't understand why your mutie friend can't help you out in that one spot. At least the DLC will resurrect you (sorta).

- Played around with Burnout Paradise. Now there is a fun game, and a great revival of the franchise. Loved the first couple iterations of this racing classic, but then it got to be the same old, same old. Somehow this one reignites the fire, at 120 mph. You also gotta love the support they are giving the game, with the free bikes, and other looming DLC. Also, it was a good move to make the bikes not really crash per say, so that you can stay in the flow of the game. This game will remain in the library for a long time, as it is a great pick up and player. Steven Totilo has a good review of it here.

Immersion. It's the key to a great book, a fantastic movie, a can't miss TV show, and especially to a video game. It's also one of the hardest qualities to achieve. There are so many breakers in a typical game, what with load times, saving games, poor AI, graphical (especially clipping) issues, and the biggie, death. To find a game that can pull you in on the story/gameplay combination alone is unusual. Finding one that can do that, while overcoming the aforementioned inherent properties of gaming, well, that happens far too rarely.

But happened it has in 2008, with the release of Fallout 3. Despite playing fewer games this year than in the past, I was thinking of not even bothering to award this title to anything. But after the initial play session lasted ten hours, it was clear that not doing so would be a disservice. This game is good. Real good. Fantastic. If you haven't played it, you need to do so. Please. Hurry.

Over 40? Need to remember what it was like playing RoboTron, Stargate, and the like? Then pop Gears of War 2 into your 360, and blast away! Much like the first game in the series, GoW 2 is old school, hard core video gaming at it's best. See the thing, shoot the thing. It's big, it's loud, it's intense, and it's fun. Oh, we could talk about how pretty she looks, or how her sounds envelop you, but those are just the top and bottom of the string bikini on this curvaceous nineteen year old of a game. Just, just, stop it! Stop looking for depth here, ok? Sure she's shallow. Sure the intricacies of the geo-economic meltdown escape her. But, come on, that's not what you are here for, now is it? That's right. Enjoy the big booms. Feel your weapon as it fires off again and again. Ahhhh. That's why she's here.

N'Gai Croal over at the Newsweek blog Level Up has begun posting, and was a participant in, A Symposium On Game Reviews. The symposium looks to be a quite detailed look at a topic that has been getting a lot of play in the gaming press since the Jeff Gerstmann fiasco of 2007. Invited to participate were several of the brightest and cutest (I'm looking at you, Leigh) minds in the business today (which of course explains why I'm just a reader.) The first topic revolves around review scores. (The entire text of the first topic can be found at Shawn Elliott's blog here.)

So, what are the cash-starved masses looking forward to most under the tree? As I have severely curtailed my game purchases this year, a lot of the biggies are on my list. At the top is Fallout 3 and Gears of War 2. There has been too many good things said about them, and I don't want to miss them any longer, even if Matt told me the ending of F3 (it's just his way). Mirror's Edge would be welcome; loved the demo. Also, either of the last two Call of Duty games. Still have a good feeling about that franchise despite CoD3. Saint's Row 2 would be a pleasant surprise. With the seriousness of GTA IV lingering, the over the top fun ascribed to SR2 interests me. And while I wouldn't buy it for myself, if the new Price of Persia were to be opened, I wouldn't complain in the least.

And as my wife likes to surprise me, and knows our GameStop manager well enough, she will probably try to come up with something not on the list. No idea what it might be...

What is the VGCT world sitting on Santa's lap for?

Stream of consciousness ramblings:

Home finally launched yesterday on the PS3, and while it is early, and rather spartan, I have to say I'm impressed with it, or at least its potential. The first thing that struck me was how smooth it seemed. The avatar's movements are very fluid, and feel right. The graphics work well, with your furniture and other "stuff" looking like they fit within your apartment; they could have easily looked forced or out of place. The harbor and outside world looked good, and made you want the big ol' yacht sitting there.

Communication, however, isn't easy. Using the controller to type has never been natural, but that's how most of the world is going to do it, at least in the near future. I did hear a couple of voice chatters, but that too will be the exception for now.

The mall is interesting, but there isn't much to buy yet. Plus, the prices are higher than I'm willing to pay. 99 cents for a new pair of pants? No thanks. Now, a quarter, that's possibility. We'll see how things go. Maybe a price tracking graph is in order.

It's the end of the year, and that means another installment of Slate's Gaming Club,, an exchange among a few of the smarter gaming writers of the day. After reading it, which we highly advise you to do, it becomes quite obvious why we are not included in their little group. Check it out when you have a chance.

Another overly long chat with Bill, on some of the aspects of the latest GTA iteration:

Dib
i guess claptrap posters have to pick a game of the year

Bill
my played library is pretty weak
for my money it'd have to be LBP

Dib
not sure what i'll go with
buy fewer games this year than before
gta didn't live up to hype
fable 2 was fun
mass effect
need to play fallout 3

Bill
GTA does make a strong contribution to the literature on how gameplay control should work for a hybrid third/first person game

Dib
true
but that doesn't put it in game of teh year land

Bill
true.
that puts it on a "most influential" list, several years hence.
if it turns out to be.

Dib
doesn't that apply to every game?

Bill
as worded, yes.

Dib
you didn't have to think about the control much
but the game was lacking

Bill
i still haven't finished it
but i agree, it was lacking something.

Dib
i want to try saints row 2
it sounds like they went for the over the top fun style
instead to the realistic world of gta 4

Bill
maybe that's what it was... lacked some of the levity
had plenty of comedy, just not enough levity.

Dib
posted about one of my issues with gta at some site: