Mafia
You know when you went into staples a few years ago, you saw this $10-15 bundle with Max Payne 2 and some 'Mafia' game that you never heard of? And you figured the deal was tempting, but you'd never heard of the latter title so you didn't bother? Well, I should have really picked it up. I read an IGN article a few weeks ago about the 100 best game titles evar (The list itself was pretty so-so), and in the top 20 or so, was a game called Mafia. Basically, it was GTAIII in the 1930's. I figured it might be interesting to try, so I downloadified it and was pleasently surprised. The atmosphere of the game is so unique and well done. Fedoras, tommy guns, smuggling Canadian Whiskey, meeting in the back of a restaurant, etc etc. Oh! And the music! This great old-timey stuff that changes from area to area and really set the mood. The story was fantastic too - your standard start-from-nothing and go up through the ranks, but the game takes place as you're talking to a detective and telling him all your stories so that he'll take you and your family into protective custody. It then shows how you rose and fell in the organization and whatnot. Overall, I was pretty impressed. The gamplay itself is pretty bad though - sparse chackpoints, the cars are painfull realistic (soooo slow), the police give chase for seeing a weapon, speeding, blowing a red light, etc. (the last two offences are SUCH a pain for the timed missions). There were also some major bugs - basically there were a few instances where for whatever reasons the triggers just didn't work, so you had to reload and try it again and hope that it went properly. All in all it was a bit frusteratin, but the story and atmosphere were absolutely incredible - I'll be in line for Mafia 2 when it comes out.
/end of email
I basically bombed through that game in about two weeks. Right now I'm working away at Test Drive Unlimited, which I have mixed feelings about. The RPG aspect of buying real estate, clothes, and cars is kinda neat. Having free roam of the Hawaiian island (whichever one it is) is kinda cool too. But I'm not quite sold on the actual driving aspect... I guess Grid has spoiled me something fierce. They don't really handle quite right, and I have a hard time feeling connected to the drive. Also, for some reason, the traffic seems to be kinda difficult even though I've played many a Need For Speed title with other cars on the road. /shrugs
I've finished watching Top Gear, seasons 7-11. What a fantastic show, I really don't know if the American version will be able to even remotely be as good.
Art:
A house. Go figure.
Oh, quick shout out to the podcast and story-lovers of my faithful readership of 1.5: The Moth is a podcast that lasts 10-20 minutes, and is basically people telling true stories of things that they've done or experienced. Several of the stories thus far have been pretty funny.
-Cril
So build me up (build me up)
Buttercup
Don't break my heart
I'll be over at ten
You tell me time and again
But you're late
I wait around and then
I went to the door
I can't take any more
It's not you
You let me down again
The Foundations - Build Me Up Buttercup
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