Friday, March 19, 2004
We woke up at the ungodsly early hour of 7:30 a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep. That's what we get for falling asleep at the equally ungodsly early hour of midnight (while watching The Story of Alexander Graham Bell, at that). We finally dragged ourselves out of bed about eight, because it was obvious that we weren't going back to sleep, not with all the sunlight and chirping birds and construction noise. So, I've been awake for almost three and a half hours now and have accomplished absolutely nothing.
Yesterday. Blah, blah, blah. Words, words, words. You know the tune.
Last night, we finished Beyond Good and Evil. The end came very abruptly, and if I have any particular gripe with this game, it would be that's it's at least ten or twelve hours too short. Just as you really become thoroughly immersed in the world of Hillys and its inhabitants, bip!, it's over. But it's a small gripe and BGE is definitely my third favorite game of 2003 (Primal is first, and Ratchet and Clank: Going Commando is second). BEG is the sort of game that I can only hope we'll be seeing a lot more of in the very near future, a game that uses the medium to tell a story and that tells it well. It's a strange place to find engaging fiction, on the PS2, but there it is. Spooky and I actually almost cried when the lighthouse was destroyed by the Domz and the children were kidnapped, and then we almost cried again when Pey'j died. And I'm sitting there thinking, this is just a frelling video game and I'm getting weepy! But it's proof that gaming is evolving and that there are creators in that industry willing the stretch the form. In turn, the popularity of games like BGE and Primal are evidence that gamers like the stretch. Props to Ubisoft for this absolutely marvelous experience. The ending leaves hope for a sequel (sit through the credits or you'll miss it). With luck, given the success of BGE, it will be a little longer. Anyway, now it's back to Lara Croft for a bit.
Today, I'm going to try to get a sneak preview of Murder of Angels up on the website. I'll post a link here. By the way, if you are a legitimate reviewer for a website or zine and would like to receive an advance reading copy of MoA, please e-mail me at lowredmail@mac.com. Same goes for The Dry Salvages. What do I mean by legit? I don't mean you'll be writing the review for your blog or livejournal or homepage or Amazon.com.
And I think that's all the blogging I'm good for on this long, long morning. It's going to be a matching long, long day, but tonight's "kid night" and tomorrow's a day off, so it shouldn't be too terrible.
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