Albert Art

Good Gaming in February

I love Street Fighter IV, but that theme song is shiiiiit! Poppy-boy-band-Jpop-styled rock music for an otherwise awesome fighting game. I think the 'Indestructible' song cheapens Street Fighter kinda like the songs from every Sonic Adventure game, sounding more like a Saturday Morning cartoon theme for middle-school kids, than an epic beat em' up. Is there anyway to turn off the vocals? I'd rather listen to instrumental.

Aside from that, I'm having an awesome time playing Street Fighter IV. I honestly haven't played this much Street Fighter, since back in the SNES days when Super Street Fighter came out. And though times are different from then and now, Street Fighter remains Street Fighter, good ol' 2d bashing but with a graphical update, and more options to beat your opponent.

I beat arcade mode the other day on medium, after slugging it out with Seth. That guy is a cheap mofo, but after 10 or 15 tries, I finished him off.

The game looks so good on my monitor that I just had to take some pics of the opening intro. I love the painterly art style.

I especially like the option to have challengers connect while playing arcade mode. Makes the game feel even more like an arcade experience from the comforts of home.

GTAIV The Lost and Damned.

I used to really despise GTA, but since playing through and finishing GTAIV, I've grown to enjoy the series with a renewed sense of appreciation for what the developers are trying to accomplish with their film-like sandbox crime series.

"The Lost and Damned" is more of the same but with a biker gang, new characters, a basic leveling-up feature, and familiar faces from Niko's adventures in Liberty City. The gritty film-grain look really adds a cool aesthetic to this biker story, making The Lost and Damned, seem like a new game in itself.

If you're like me, and avoided using the motorcycles in GTA IV due to frustration with the control, I was bummed to hear that this game would involve lots of bikes, and bike racing. Gladly though, there are improvements to the handling of the motorcycles, but there are instances where controlling the thing is just beyond your control. It's not as frustrating as before, so that is definitely a good thing.

Pictures from GTA's intro.

Life is good with these two games!