Ogyhphoapbidciltsmiwttata Part 2!

Its that time again, time for...

Old games you have probably heard of and played, but I don't care I love them so much I want to talk about them anyway!

PART 2!

Beyond good and evil.

What platform is it on?

PlayStation 2, PC, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network

What year did it come out?
2003

What is the point of it?

To take a bunch of pictures and to uncover the truth behind a great conspiracy.

Why do you love it?

Beyond good and evil, may be my favourite game from the Playstation 2 era of my gaming life, in it you p[lay the main character Jade as she and her Uncle Pey'j (who happens to be an anthropomorphic pig) join forces with the IRIS network to uncover the truth behind the alpha network and its possible connections to DomZ.

Confused? Go play the game then, the story is not easy to explain, but the game tells it exceptionally well, you Jade and her trusty camera investigate the conspiracy while also taking pictures of animals to earn a little scratch on the side, this is not however a investigation game, its a pure action adventure, Jade is equipped with a “Dai-jo” combat staff, and the combat is very nicely done, Jade's moves are fluid and satisfying and the difficultly is just enough to challenge you without frustrating you.its not fighting all the time however, the game splits up its combat sections with some very nicely done hovercraft piloting sections and the occasional puzzle or mini game.

The characters in this game are however probably the reason I really love it, they are interesting, weird and engaging. you will have a hard time not identifying with at least one of them as this games story unfolds.

I'm sorry Friday Voni, But to me, Jade will always be the greatest female in gaming.

Plus it has a really kick ass song in it, check this out.

Sadly however, on its release this game was a commercial failure, either due to its lack of popularity or its badly timed release, Beyond good and evil was the right game at the wrong time. sadly this means that as of now, this games planned sequels have never seen the light of day.

That said however Beyond good and evil has had a lot or very positive reception, it is widely critically acclaimed and was even received a nomination for game of the year in 2004.

I hope with its recent re-release on both the Xbox live arcade and the Playstation network more people will play and love this game as I do, and hopefully this trailer, won't remain all there is of Beyond good and evil 2.

PROPAGANDA!

Uplink

What platform is it on?

Windows, Linux, Mac OS X

What year did it come out?
2001

What is the point of it?

To hack money into your account then save/destroy the computer systems of the world.

Why do you love it?

This game may not belong in Ogyhphoapbidciltsmiwttata, its a old game that I love, but its one you have probably never heard of.

Uplink is a hacking simulator, you have a computer operating system interface, and you use it to download hacking programs, then use said hacking programs to hack into secure systems to accomplish all kinds of shady activity for you employers.

Graphically this game is very simple, To give you an idea, I'm going to include a few screen shots.

However this look of the game just adds to it's enjoyment, this game is all about the feeling you get when you play it. I won't deny this game is bloody difficult and to a Uplink virgin, it can be rather daunting to figure out what systems you can and can't attack, and what programs you need to complete you hacks successfully, but when you figure it out, this simple interface becomes very exciting indeed.

You see, not only to you have to worry about how to hack a system, you also need to worry about being traced, this means you have to redirect your signal through as many systems as you can before it reaches its intended system, but even that is not enough, you then have to hack back into some of the systems you used as a proxy to go in and delete your digital signature, leaving no trace you where ever there, and no way to link you to the crime.

The game features programs to inform you when a company starts a trace on you, along with a timer indicating how much time you have before your busted, and it can be a race against time to accomplice what you entered the system for, get out, and remove any trace of you before you get busted. Because in this game, when its game over, its game over, your hacker account is locked down and shut out and you have no choice but to start again from scratch. Its enough to really get your heart beating, and it can come as a real shock sometimes, when you forget about a digital figure print you let behind somewhere, only for a passive trace to be completed and your game to abrupt end.

The game also has a fully fledged story, although it takes a while to find it, while reading the news feed in game you may start to notice story's about your fellow hackers going missing, or other systems being broken into, after poking around yourself you can discover a massive plot involving many companys and hackers, revolving around a new deadly computer virus. I won't spoil it for you, but your actions and choice of sides in the matter effect the game in ways you would not expect.

All in all, Uplink is a truly epic game, while its not much to look at, I highly recommend it, I have spend many hours off my life in its interface hacking my way to fame and fortune. Or simply hacking into bank accounts and transferring all the money I can find into an offshore account.

Why not join the hacker elite?

Psychonauts

What platform is it on?

PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox,

What year did it come out?
2005

What is the point of it?

To explore dreams.

Why do you love it?

Ah Tim Schafer, I could do a whole set of posts just about your games, Full throttle, Grim Fandango, Day of the Tentacle even my all time favourite game The Secret of Monkey Island all originated in the mind of the great Tim Schafer.

On my original list the last spot of “!£!”$”!£$ was going to be taken by Grim Fandango, its a truly exceptional game and well worth your time, But Psychonauts just takes the gold.

Psychonauts is a platform game where you play as the main character, Raz a young boy with psychic abilities who runs away from the circus to sneak into a summer camp for similarity gifted “Psychonauts” The game mostly takes place inside the minds of various characters at this summer camp, and its these brilliant bizarre and outright fantastic settings that puts this game at the top of my charts.

Each mind creates its own setting with wildly different visual styles, and enemies and creatures related to the deep seated fears and hidden desires of the person who's mind it is. For example in the paranoid mind of Boyd the security guard, There are cameras everywhere, black helicopters in the sky and everyone you meet is a secret agent in a (useless) disguise.

On the other hand, when you enter the mind of a fish from the lake, Raz appears as a giant monster, in a very Japanese monster movie inspired level.

This constant switch between not only levels, but style of game keeps Psychonauts not only interesting, but down right fascinating I loved it from the very start to the very end, its a classic and you do it a disservice if you have never played it. Its now available on steam, and Good old games for the PC and downloadable as an Xbox original on the Xbox 360, so you have no excuse not to play it.

Go forth and explore the minds of some of the strangest people your ever likely to come across. Then come back and thank me when your done.