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In Between Posts

In Between Posts, September 11, 2011

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I finally got around to posting my OutRun Online Arcade review last week. It was a pretty fun game and as a result of playing it I picked up another OutRun game last week. I was in a local game store and saw front and center in one of their cases a copy of Out Run Europa for the Sega Game Gear. It was just the cartridge, no box or manual, but it was only a few bucks so I picked it up. I’ll post something about it this week.

I also posted two demo impressions last week. One for Ugly Americans: Apocalypsegeddon and another for The Baconing. The former wasn’t that great, but it might be fun with a pal or three and The Baconing seemed pretty decent, but maybe worth checking out DeathSpank first. I have a few more demos queued up too, but there isn’t enough time in the day you know?

Lastly I started a new game last week: Doom 3. I’ve sunk a couple of hours into it and I’m liking it. It’s pretty spooky, as long as I’m in the mindset to be spooked.

That’s pretty much it on the gaming front. School and work have kept me busy too, but I’m glad I can find time to write a little bit. I should post something for Out Run Europa this week and hopefully a demo impression of two. Also it’s been ten years since 9/11/2001. Dang.

First Impressions, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Network, Xbox 360, Xbox Live Arcade

The Baconing – Demo Impressions

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I'm pretty sure DeathSpank as a character name is pretty terrible.

The third game to be released in the DeathSpank series is The Baconing, and it’s my first experience with the comedic action-role-playing series. It was released last week for Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, and on the PC via Steam; I played the PSN version. The Baconing was developed and published by Hothead Games with the exception of the XBLA version, published by Valcon Games.

Having become bored without foes to fight, DeathSpank tries on his Throngs of Virtue and inadvertently creates an evil version of himself that begins wreaking havoc and already the game is making callbacks to a previous game in the series.

The demo had me fighting through groups of enemies and meeting unusual non-player characters who issued quests to me. Although the demo was linear, the rest of the game should be fairly expansive and open to replaying stages.

When enemies, objects, or NPCs where on the screen, I could target them and a circle would surround them. If I was targeting an enemy or an object I could attack with one of the four weapons I had assigned to the face buttons. If it was an NPC, I could begin a conversation. I was given options as to how I wanted to respond in conversation and I was surprised to see that all of the dialogue was voice-acted.

I really liked the design in the game, it felt like a cartoon.

I played the demo on normal and it seemed pretty tough, although it just threw me into battle without really explaining much. The menus seemed expansive and I was overwhelmed with information, at least considering I was playing a brief demo. The humor in The Baconing seems similar to that of a cartoon; DeathSpank was loud and boisterous and the dialogue was pretty funny. The world was very colorful and there was a lot of detail to the stages.

The Baconing appears to be a fun action-RPG similar to Diablo, but if it’s your first experience with the series like it was mine, the first game, DeathSpank, might be a better option.