Borderlands - The Zombie Island Of Dr. Ned

I have just about finished the first DLC for Borderlands and it has been terrific. I put a good 10 hours into it so far (I have been very thorough in order to make sure I am not missing anything) and for $10, that's a pretty good value, IMO. Heck, some full-priced titles have single player games that take only 10 hours to finish.

As with the original content, the humor in The Zombie Island Of Dr. Ned is tremendous. Lots of subtle (and not-so-subtle) comments on things that have transpired in the original game as well as some nice pop culture references to the whole overplayed zombie thing. The missions are basically the same sort as in the original game. And there is even a bounty board for side missions, just as there is in each major area in the original content. So there is plenty to do here and there are some nifty new creatures to slaughter. What else could you ask for?

The atmosphere is appropriately creepy, playing up the horror movie theme of the DLC. Once again the voice acting is hysterical and the visuals, so unique to Borderlands, are top-notch.

I have not found any killer weapons so far. In fact, for a large part of the time it seemed as though the weapons I was finding were a bit lower leveled than what they should have been. As I got closer to the end of the campaign, they did get noticeably better.

In the end it is very easy to give a strong recommendation to The Zombie Island Of Dr. Ned. As you know, Borderlands is one of my favorite games of the year and this add-on makes it even better. Thumbs up!!!

2009 Game Of The Year nominees

With the major releases out of the way for the remainder of the year, I feel confident that I can go ahead and name the games that I feel merit serious consideration for the Game Of The Year award. I will be picking one game from this list as the GOTY and will probably be doing some sub-categories this year as well, such as best story, voice acting, etc.

Before I get into this any further, I must mention these 2 huge caveats:

1. I have not played (and will not be playing) some of the biggest releases of the year such as Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Left 4 Dead 2 and Forza Motorsport 3. As such, these games are not eligible for GOTY. I know this makes the list null and void for some people but COD:MW2 and L4D2 are mainly multiplayer games and I am not much of a multiplayer gamer, so there is no sense in me spending money on these games. If you can handle these games being ineligible, then you may find these awards worth browsing.
2. These awards are for Xbox 360 and PS3 games only. I am not into the Wii, DS, PSP or PC gaming.

Okay, with those things out of the way, here are my nominees for the 2009 Game Of The Year award (along with the console on which I played them), in no particular order:

1. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3)
2. Batman: Arkham Asylum (360)
3. The Beatles: Rock Band (360)
4. NHL 10 (360)
5. Borderlands (360)
6. Assassin's Creed II (360)

Please note that even though I linked these games to their IGN reviews, those scores will not influence my decisions at all. They just serve as a reference for anyone unfamiliar with the games.

As you can see, I played all of these games on the 360, except for Uncharted 2, which is a PS3 exclusive game. You are probably wondering why and I will tell you. First, I prefer the 360 controller over the PS3 controller. I like the analog triggers on the 360 controller and just the overall heft of the thing. I don't dislike the PS3 controller, but I do prefer the 360's. Second, you can install games onto your hard drive on the 360, which helps with loading times while playing games. And third, downloading patches, DLC, etc. is much faster for me on the 360 than on the PS3. Don't get me wrong, I think the PS3 is a fantastic console and no doubt it is much more reliable than the 360. But when push comes to shove, I just prefer to game on my 360.

The fact that NHL 10 made the list is probably going to alienate me from my Canadian buddy Pete Anderson. He has real problems with the way the skaters control in the game and he knows more about hockey than I could ever pretend to. Still, the game works for me and it is a wonderfully complete package. Sorry, Pete!

There are a number of really high quality games that I played this year that didn't quite make the nominees list. I'd like to give these Honorable Mentions some recognition: Demon's Souls (PS3), IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds Of Prey (360), Dragon Age: Origins (360), FIFA 10 (360), Sacred 2 (360), MLB '09: The Show (PS3), Street Fighter 4 (PS3), Red Faction: Guerrilla (PS3), Madden NFL 10 (360).

In addition, besides the already-mentioned Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Left 4 Dead 2 and Forza Mototsport 3, here are some of the games that I did not play this year that would probably have a good chance at making the nominees list: Dirt 2 (360), Infamous (PS3), Resident Evil 5 (360), Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time (PS3). I have had Resident Evil 5 for over a month from GameFly, but have been busy with other games. I may yet play it before the awards are announced and if so, it will be given full consideration.

The decision this year will be a tough one. While the last couple of years have had tons of excellent games, in 2007 and 2008 one game stood out head and shoulders above the rest (Bioshock and Fallout 3 respectively), making the actual GOTY announcement itself not so difficult. This year I have no idea which way I am going to go. I have some ideas here and there but I can make a serious case for each one of the nominees and I really do not know which game will come out on top. I have a lot of different things to consider. Any feedback would be welcome.

Borderlands DLC

The first of what is hopefully many DLCs for Borderlands was released today. The Zombie Island Of Dr. Ned looks to be a pretty large add-on as the download itself was quite big. I have not had a chance to check it out yet (gaming time has been limited lately and when I do get to play I am knee-deep into Assassin's Creed II), but it looks like it is swarming with bad guys (zombies, natch) ala the recently released Left 4 Dead 2. That's probably not a coincidence.

Anyway, Borderlands is such great fun that I am sure I will be getting around to it before too long.

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

Assassin's Creed II

WOW. Great game so far. Massive, epic in scope. Lots to do. Controls very nicely. Addictive as all get-out. Terrific graphics, audio, voice acting and music. First rate all the way.

My Game Of The Year award is going to to be a heck of a decision. I have at least 5 worthy candidates as of right now. And that doesn't include Modern Warfare 2 and Left 4 Dead 2, neither of which I plan on getting.

Zach is on the road!

My son Zach passed his driving test this week and is on the road. It took a while - he's already 18 now - but all is well that ends well. He aced the test with a score of 91. I was as nervous as an expectant father while he was out there on the road.

That night he got to go out with a friend for some ice cream and go to work to pick up his check. Barb and I are very proud of Zach and the future is looking very bright for our oldest child.

Way to go, Zach!

Gaming stuff

-Picked up Assassin's Creed 2 today and played it for about an hour. Seems very cool so far. I am a bit confused by the interface once the game is paused; I'll have to read the manual more closely. But the game play so far has been enjoyable. I never got very far into the first one, but I hear this one is much better.

-Downloaded the Sgt. Pepper album for Beatles: Rock Band. I haven't had a chance to play it yet but I am looking forward to checking out some of the songs, especially A Day In The Life.

-Still enjoying NHL 10's GM mode. And looking forward to getting back into Borderlands at some point soon.

Random stuff

-Finally got to go out and celebrate Barb's being finished with school. Had dinner tonight with Barb and a friend from nursing school and her sweetie. Had a nice time visiting with them and you could tell what a relief it is for classes to be over. Now they are trying to get through their 16 12-hour shifts at the hospital and then it's off to the real world.

-Happy Birthday to good friend Dave Roland! Hope you a really good one and many, many more to come, buddy!

-Michigan lost again today in what has become another lost season for the Wolverines. Ugh. But it's not all bad because Notre Dame lost again and even more calls will be coming for Charlie Weis's head. "Decided schematic advantage" my ass. It just doesn't pay to be an arrogant prick, Charlie.

-Gaming news:

• Been playing a bit of FIFA 10, which is improved over last year's version but still needs some work. Fun game though and worth checking out.
• Still working on my 2nd play through of Borderlands which is just ridiculously fun and addictive.
  
• Still have not gone back to Dragon Age: Origins. Something just didn't click with me for that game. I will try picking it back up when I have a gaming lull.
• Started a GM Mode career in NHL 10. I had been playing exclusively with the Be A Pro mode, which is great fun, but I thought I'd try running a team. So far my Blues are 2-1-2 and it has been a great struggle in each game, each one a nail biter.
• The big game release this week was Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which I am not going to pick up. The first one was a great game, but just not something that kept me coming back for more, since it is really multiplayer centric. I hear that the sequel's single player campaign is even shorter. I am not much of a multiplayer gamer, so I will pass on this title. That will have to be taken into account when I do my end of the year awards.
• Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band will be released this coming week for The Beatles: Rock Band. Needless to say, I am in.
• Assassin's Creed 2 comes out this week and I will more than likely be picking it up. The first one was neat but I didn't get very far into it. The sequel is supposed to be better in every way, so if the reviews are good I may pick it up.
  

Barb's last day of school!

Barb finishes up school tomorrow with 2 finals. Then it is onto her rotation of night shifts for a few weeks and then it is OVER. I can't tell you how proud I am of her and how excited we both are for her to be finishing up. She has done a tremendous job all the way around.

Congrats, Sweetie! I love you!

Quick thoughts on Dragon Age: Origins

-Massive game. Massive, massive massive.

-Why the hell does a game like this, which has so much to learn and looks quite complicated, not come with an in-game tutorial for the first hour or so? Unbelievable.

-As a lot of people have said, the graphics are pretty underwhelming. But the voice acting is terrific, as is the music.

-The story so far is good, the are characters even better. As usual in RPGs, leveling up and deciding what skills/talents to choose next is half the fun.

It's been fun so far and I haven't even dug into the more complex stuff like combat tactics. I did get the strategy guide today (on sale from Amazon.com) so that should help quite a bit. After playing Borderlands so much, the combat is a bit underwhelming but that is because this game is a completely different animal; it relies more on strategy and the RPG aspects of each character. I am sure once I get more into the game the combat will became awesome in it's own unique way.

News & Notes

-Barb has a killer sore throat. While we're glad she was feeling okay during hell week, this one is pretty nasty and we just want it to go away. There is so much stuff going around these days. It seems like at least one person in the family is always sick. I wish I could do more to help her but it's pretty much got to run it's course.

-Barb starts her series of nights tomorrow evening. Being sick isn't going to help that. Luckily my schedule works out for the next few weeks where it won't be a problem to be home with the kids at night. We caught a break there, though it would have been a lot easier had Barb been assigned days. It's kind of aggravating because she is one of the few people in her class that is married and has kids and yet she was assigned nights. You'd think they would try to make it easy on someone with a family to think about. But you'd be wrong!

-I finished Borderlands a couple of nights ago and I immediately started a 2nd playthrough with my character. The game is that good and that addictive. It is definitely gonna be in the running for my Game Of The Year award.

-Another huge game comes out tomorrow, Dragon Age: Origins. It is a massive RPG and the first of what is planned to be a trilogy. It will take a looong time to play to completion. That should keep me busy for a long while, which is a good thing. I still have yet to open FIFA 10 and I still have IL-2 Sturmovik to wrap up. I think I am gonna be trading some games in soon. They are really starting to accumulate and I like to get them traded in while they still have some decent value.

That's all for now. Work in the morning. School in the morning for Barb, then a quick nap and then work overnight for her. Poor thing!