This Week, I 'Ave Been Mostly Playing... (08/05/2011)

Civilization V

I'm still cracking on with the game I was playing last week but I seem to have reached the 'mop up' stage where I'm almost guaranteed to win. My massive armies of musketmen and cannons have been unbeatable so far and upgrading them to foreign legion units and artillery is going to bring the world to its knees.

This assured victory has come a little early for my liking. I seem to remember the AI opponents putting up at least a moderate fight in the later stages of Civilization IV but since I started my world conquest in my current Civ V game, I've done nothing but steamroll my enemies. There were some issues with the AI's performance in war when the game was first released which has since been tweaked in numerous patches. Hopefully it's just a case of the difficulty setting being too low. I think I'll try moving up to Emperor level (2 above medium) for my next game and see how it goes.

World of Warcraft

My other half returned from Easter break this week so we've re-entered Azeroth for more leveling goodness. We weren't really feeling it with our goblins, mostly due to the classes we picked, so we've started a couple of Tauren instead. It's strange that I've never leveled a Tauren before; I've loved the race and their lore ever since Thrall first bumped into them in Warcraft 3. I've leveled a Shaman up to about 70 before but I decided to start a new one anyway since it's a class I enjoy and Cataclysm has refreshed the leveling experience for most, if not all, classes.

Infamous

I've been meaning to start this all week but didn't get round to it until Friday evening. So far I'm not really sure what to make of it. The story is mildy interesting but the characters seem quite shallow. Cole, the main protagonist, is particularly one-dimensional, sporting a typical 'hardened badass' persona. Perhaps it's intended for you to fill in the blanks yourself with the good/evil decisions the game presents you with. Either way, I am only about 2-3 hours into it so there's still plenty of time for some character development.

The gameplay is pretty fun. After Assassin's Creed 2 it's quite comforting that I'm still able to climb up buildings and run along rooftops. I think seeing all those tall buildings and having to stick to the ground might have brought about feelings of withdrawal. The powers are also interesting and I like the electricity theme. It seems the developers have put some thought into how the electrical properties of Cole react with the game environment. I wondered why I died so quickly when I first jumped into a pool of water before realising I'd apparently forgotten basic physics. Trial and error; it's how I play.

The Sims Medieval

Despite telling myself I was out of the Sims addiction cycle for a while and also that I didn't need to buy any more games right now, I still 'accidentally' wandered into Game this weekend and purchased The Sims Medieval (the collector's edition, no less).

It's so good to see that The Sims has finally admitted that it's a closet RPG. Even though I'm still having to feed my Sims and let them sleep at night, I'm spending most of the time completing requirements for quests. That's right, quests! Quests with rewards, experience and gear! The Sims finally has a point.

I was concerned that this game was just going to be The Sims 3 with different skins and occupations but after spending quite a lot of time with it this afternoon, I feel that this is a fully justified standalone Sims title. A good first impression, then.

What's Next?

I hear Infamous is quite short so I might get it finished this week. That is, unless Civ V retains its titan-like grip on me (which it probably will). Then there's the fact that I've just started a whole new Sims game with a ton of things still to discover. It's a wonder I get any games finished at all with the hour-killing stuff I get into.