More Far Cry 2

This game is absolutely amazing. There are so many ways to approach taking out enemies. One of my favorites is to hurl a Molotov cocktail at a hut, which ignites everything around it, causing a massive brush fire. As everything that can burn does (including trees), I simply wait for the bad guys to come flying out of the hut in a panic and pick them off with my sniper rifle. This tactic reminds me of an old classic PC game, XCOM: UFO Defense. I used to use incendiary ammo to flush out the aliens and take them out as they fled. Wow, XCOM. That's one of the top 5 games I ever played.

A couple of other cool things happened as I played today. The AI seems to get better and harder as you advance through the game. I raided an outpost today and drove off the guards. One of them ran off into some rocks about 50 yards from the outpost. I was walking through the camp, looking for goodies to loot when I heard the hiding guard start taking shots at me from a distance. I turned to run and saw a propane tank out of the corner of my eye. As I ran by it - WHOOSH! - it blew up and everything around it (including me) caught fire. The guard had aimed for the tank and created a massive explosion. That is some damned good AI.

Later I had a mission to take out a truck convoy. I did this, hitting it and the surrounding cars with my rocket launcher. Suddenly 2 jeep patrols showed up and started firing at me. I took out 3 of the 4 guys in quick order and was lining up a shot for the last one when he turned and ran, hiding behind one of the burning cars. What did he do then? He shot off a flare gun, high into the sky. Suddenly 4 or 5 more jeep patrols came roaring in and I was under an immense amount of fire. He called for backup! I had to high tail it out of the area, running for my life. Incredible. That was the first time I had seen the enemy do that and it was such a rush.

The game features tons of weapons that you unlock by doing favors for the weapon shops owners. There is a huge variety of real weapons, from the aforementioned flare guns to assault rifles, shotguns, sniper rifles, sub machine guns and even a flamethrower. They all function realistically and in a neat touch, wear out over time. You can pick up weapons from fallen enemies too, but you can bet they are very used and are subject to ammo jams at the worst possible times. If you use them too long they may even blow up in your hand.

There's also a great variety of vehicles you can commandeer. A good number of real Jeep vehicles are in the game, as well as generic cars and dune buggies (which are really fun to drive). There are also boats you can take as you head up river to your next destination. Make no mistake; this game mixes the best elements of FPS games and sandbox games such as the Grand Theft Auto series.

This game is getting criminally overlooked because of all of the A++ titles being released this fall in time for the holidays. But if you want a realistic FPS that offers hours and hours of gameplay and sublime strategy, you simply must check out Far Cry 2.

Far Cry 2

I have been playing a lot of this game lately and I am really enjoying it. After playing Fable 2 and the Left 4 Dead demo, it's quite a change in both style and gameplay. Far Cry 2 is made to be a gritty, more realistic game than your average FPS. There's a lot of strategy involved if you choose to not just run 'n gun. The plot is straight out of Kurosawa's "Yojimbo" as you play a mercenary caught in a battle between 2 factions and find yourself doing missions for both sides, playing them against each other.

I have a few complaints about the game: you have to deal with malaria, which can be a royal pain in the neck if you run low on medicine. It's manageable, but it seems gimicky. Also you cannot save your game anytime, anywhere. You must either complete a mission or travel to different places throughout the map to find a save point. And there is a LOT of traveling. The map is huge (which is a good thing) but getting from one place to another can take quite a while and you are constantly running into checkpoints that you must fight your way through. In addition, random patrol vehicles are also on the prowl, and if they spot you they start shooting. So in the midst of traveling to a place to do a mission, you could find yourself getting in 4 or 5 fire fights before you even arrive to your destination. You'll probably be a little low on ammo and the mission battles are pretty intense in most cases.

Despite my gripes, I am really enjoying Far Cry 2. The single player campaign alone can take up to 70 hours to complete if you are thorough. That's a lot of bang for the buck. Plus the weapons are realistic and you can upgrade to better ones by doing side missions for the arms dealers. There's a lot of incentive to dig deeper and deeper into the game and once you do it get's it's hooks in.

Left 4 Dead demo impressions

My good buddy Dave Roland got me a code so that I could download the Left 4 Dead demo before it hit the marketplace. After playing through it a couple of times, I posted my impressions over at Beyond Media Online. You can find the write up here.

Thanks a bunch, Dave!

History

History was made in the United States tonight. I will go to bed tonight thinking that my children's future just may have gotten a little brighter. For that I am very, very grateful.

One last thing: McCain's concession speech was pure class. I was more impressed with him tonight than I have been since 2000. Bravo, Mr. McCain.

Just voted

I just returned from casting my ballot. The line was out the door when I got there, but it only took 45 minutes total for me to vote and be on my way. Not bad at all. I get the feeling that voter turnout is going to be massive all around the country and that the polls will have to be kept open hours longer than normal. This means we may not know who is president until very late at night.

From what I hear, Virginia will be the first state that will give an indicator as to how the presidential election will go. If Obama wins Virginia, it will be nearly impossible for McCain to get enough electoral votes. If McCain wins Virginia he will still face an uphill battle but the path will be easier for him. The polls there are supposed to close at around 6 PM central time, but as I said earlier, I think they will have to be kept open later to accommodate the huge turnout.

If you have taken the time to educate yourself about the issues and where each man stands, please vote in the presidential election today. I don't care who you support, just get out there and make yourself part of the process.

Halloween and a big night for John!

Halloween was a blast this year. Both Laurel and John dressed up, as you can see. We went to my sister's sister-in-law's house. She and her hubby always have a nice party with lots of great food and beverages. Laurel scored lots of candy so she's a very happy little girl. Zach went with us to the party and was a big help watching the kids so Barb and I could get a break once in a while. Jess opted to go to a high school football game, so she was missed.

In other big news, John made the move to his own bedroom last night! We got a camera baby monitor so we can keep an eye on him. He did great; he talked for a bit and then fell asleep. He only got up once last night. He has been doing better in that regard.

John did fine, but it was traumatic for Barb. She held up though and we have now met another little milestone. Great job, Honey!

More Fable 2

I finished the main quest in Fable 2 last night. I still have lots of stuff I can do, but the main part of the game is over. The story was excellent and the gameplay matched it all the way. It's not perfect by any means, but it's very enjoyable and a breeze to get into. My character went the good route, so maybe later I will play through as an evil character; I never do that, so it may be fun to give it a go. I'd also like to get in some multiplayer, hopefully with my buddy Dave. That could be some real fun. Also I have lot of money that I can give Dave to give him a nice head start in the single player game.

Next up is Far Cry 2, I think. Between that and Fallout 3, I think I'd rather go with an action FPS than another RPG. Right now a simple shooter is a bit more appealing than another story-driven game like Fallout 3.

So far, I'd have to say Fable 2 is probably the best game I have played this year. Whether it can hold on to that title is something that remains to be seen. I probably will only play Far Cry 2 and Fallout 3 for the rest of the year, besides the occasional sports game. MLB '08: The Show is still in the running for Game Of The Year too.