This week, the Non-Fiction Gaming crew shows off how varied our gaming libraries and tastes actually are.
Nothing is off the table this week as we work out with fitness games, bust out new and old indie classics or shoot our way through surprisingly haunting narratives.
Wii Fit U
Aidan B
This week is a bit of an unusual game from me. I’ve been spending a bit of time playing Wii Fit U…if playing is the right word to use. It’s probably something I’ll be playing for a while to come now when I get the time.
I’ve always had mixed feelings about the Wii Fit series. It seemed like an expensive way to do things you could normally do for free. Then I got my hands on it and it was fun for a while. Wii Fit U fixed a lot of what was wrong with the original Wii Fit: routines and off-TV play are the biggest ones.
I’m still not sure what to make of the Wii Fit Trainer turning up late to a workout (especially since she has to train for Super Smash Bros.) but there is enough variety in the game to keep you interested. Earning points seems like a disincentive for exercise, however, because it encourages not working out without the Wii U.
Fez, Don’t Starve and Rogue Legacy
Senior Stiv
My gaming habits for the past couple weeks has been filled up with nothing, but indie games. I recently, started playing Fez and I’m enjoying it so far. Changing perspectives, solving the games myriad of intriguing puzzles and collecting little gold cubes has been pretty damn enjoyable. I’ll hopefully be putting in more time this weekend with Gomez.
I also downloaded the console versions of Don’t Starve and Rogue Legacy. Honestly both transfer over pretty well. Rogue Legacy in particular is much easier to play using a controller than on the keyboard.
Don’t Starve feels a little more awkward control wise, but after a little while the controls start to feel quite comfortable and you’ll be right back on track to surviving the dark wilds of Don’t Starve.
Spec Ops: The Line
KRS 2
After owning the game for several months, I FINALLY started Spec Ops: The Line. I was intrigued by the game when Extra Credits (one of my favourite web series) did a two part episode series where they essentially swooned over narrative of the game.
I had heard the gameplay was nothing special to write home about. I even heard it was intentionally dull to suck the player into yet another modern military shooter where Americans are God’s chosen people and all other races are bullet fodder. But then the game is supposed to pull the rug out from under you, kick you several times in the genitals and tell you what a terrible, glory seeking monster you are.
I’ve yet to reach that point of the game, but I can report that something about Spec Ops: The Line just feels off (in a good way). The setting feels like some kind of bizarre nightmare landscape and is enough to have absorbed me. The idea of a sandstorm destroying Dubai feels utterly surreal and I wonder to myself if it’s actually real or if I should expect a Fight Club style Tyler Durden twist.
Besides that though, I think Spec Ops: The Line stands out simply for making the player kill US soldiers for once.
