Category: Entertainment

I purchased F.E.A.R. for the PC yesterday …

This the perfect game to release within two weeks of Halloween, with an interesting combination of first-person shooter action and the atmosphere of japanese horror movies like Ringu or even American classics like The Exorcist. Evidently, the critics seem to agree.

The game isn’t perfect, of course. Monolith delivers some amazing graphics, particularly in their use of bullet time effects, but much of the game world really could have used a bit more of the polish that Valve put into Half Life 2. On the other hand, the game nails its target atmosphere and succeeds at the fear-factor the hype machine assigned to Doom 3 before gamers got a hold of it.

Another spot in which the game really shines is in enemy AI. Opposing soldiers will sneak around obstacles, move objects out of their way and into yours and generally be annoyingly good at close-quarter tactics.

If you’re looking for a good spot of intense single-player action and horror for the PC and have a machine with enough power to run it, get F.E.A.R. now while the Halloween mood is at its strongest.

Patrick Hackett and Joe Bourrie have released Rumble Box, a fun and free little 3D diversion that involves characters made of simple objects fighting to escape from a box. The landscape changes as you defeat your enemies, who leave being the objects they’re created from, eventually allowing you to climb out of the box to victory.

I’ve got two anime series in this week’s Netflix queue: Ai Yori Aoshi and His and Her Circumstances.

I’ve seen parts of His and Her Circumstances before, so finally being able to see the whole thing in order is great. The series, which revolves around two japanese high school students and their friends, makes for a nice change from other series in which two characters are attracted to each other.

The difference here is that the male lead confesses his feelings near the beginning, with the girl quickly returning the feelings. While the relationship doesn’t immediately begin, at least both characters don’t avoid even a simple confession of how they feel until the very end of the series.

Ai Yori Aoshi is similar in that the two main characters get settled into the idea of having feelings for each other very early on, though they’re forced to hide this fact from the other characters in the series due to the standing they have in their respective families. This series is still something of a “harem comedy” in that the core situation involves one guy surrounded by several attractive women.

Unlike many other popular, similar series, the male lead is smart, likable and even strong willed. Still, the series still has the trappings of other harem comedies, with the usual amounts of fanservice from the other girls involved in the story. On the other hand, the supporting cast’s backgrounds are fleshed out enough that, combined with a male lead that one could actually see the girls being interested in, makes for an enjoyable show.

This thread on the Quarter to Three forums reminded me once again how much love I have for the Digital Illusions CE design team and their decision to curtail the regular abuse of the sniper class that most other modern combat FPS games seem to encourage.

I need to send them a Christmas card or something.