BeefJack: Looking back at LucasArts

Remember this morning when I said the reason for me not talking about LucasArts would become clear. Well here it is.

Looking back at LucasArts

When I first mentioned to Jamie that I wanted to do this he he thought about both of us pitching in on a look back and asked what my favourite LucasArts games, I told him that was impossible. That's like asking someone to pick their favourite child (yes, he used that in the strap too).

After I turned in my draft, he decided I'd said it all, and he couldn't really offer anything. For my side, I held back a bit. I could have kept going.

There's a lot of games I feel bad for not mentioning. Grim Fandango. X-Wing Alliance. Day of the Tentacle. Raven's Jedi Outcast and Academy. Mysteries of the Goddamn Sith. All great. But for me there are five games that I fondly remember from LucasArts.

Monkey Island's 1 and 2
Dark Forces
Jedi Knight
TIE Fighter
and Full Throttle

And I couldn't resist a special shoutout to Republic Commando.

Earth 2: A DC Reboot done right

The obvious topic for this week's post was obviously Disney closing the doors on LucasArts. That's not what I'm going to talk about though. Why should become clear soon. What I'm going to talk about instead is DC Comics' Earth 2.

I've been pretty vocal about my unhappiness with DC's New 52 reboot. I'm not sure if I've ever made it clear as to why though. It boils down to the fact it's a mess. A reboot is a time to clean up, make everything work together brilliantly. Just like Young Justice did. The fact they let Batman and Green Lantern escape mostly undamaged is another factor. Trying to keep some stories in continuity but have details change is an exercise in futility. I stopped reading everything DC. Even Nightwing. Then last weekend I tried Earth 2, and it gets a lot of things right.

BeefJack: Fathom Preview

My first proper hands-on preview. Can't believe it's taken this long. No idea why. However, I might have got a little bit carried away with my water puns here. Though the headline is all my editor Jamie. Who is also responsible for the "utterly brilliant" comment about Victoria Mars. A show I have never watched.

Fathom Preview.

Giving Star Trek: Voyager another chance

I was originally going to write about Supernatural today, a TV show I fell in love with, then got annoyed, and now slowly learning to love again. But I'm not. Carrying on a trend I said I wouldn't, I'm going to talk about Star Trek some more. Actually Voyager, to be specific.

Why? Because I went hunting through my archive to check if I'd written about Supernatural when I first got hooked. What I found instead was the last time I started to sink back into a Star Trek shaped hole. That entry ends with the line “Despite a few friends arguing it, I’m not going as far as watching Voyager though.” which I found pretty funny, because that's exactly what I'm now doing.

BeefJack: Alien Spidy review

It seems ages since I actually reviewed a game for BeefJack, so it's unfortunate that my return is Alien Spidy, a thoroughly lovely looking game that is just so frustrating to play. Also, the thing has six legs. Alien or not, that isn't a spider!

Alien Spidy review

Young Justice is served

Young Justice has finished. The show based around the sidekicks of the DC Universe and Batman setting them up to be some black ops division of the Justice League. A brilliant show, with adult themes that just happened to be animated. After two seasons it was talked about with reverence, and got a fairly decent audience to start with, but Cartoon Network did everything they could to kill it. And being the channel that shows it, they have final say.

Back to the New Frontier

Continuing Captain Mackenzie Calhoun and The Excalibur's journey into uncharted Thallonian Space, Martyr sees Calhoun being worshipped as a Saviour thanks to the events of the previous novel, and using that status to try and broker a peace between two warring factions. Of course not everything goes to plan.

Martyr's not quite as strong as the opener, but since that was four books into one I'll allow it. I did like how it shifted the focus of the book to some of the other members of the crew that got a bit of a short straw in the originals.

It's been a long time.

Erm, wow, I've not been here for a while. A whole month without a post. I've got a couple drafted, but I didn't hit publish and I apologise. I've also been working on a sequel to The Sound of Money which is coming along nicely.

Speaking of which, I've also published The Sound of Money on GoodReads and ReadWave, so if you're a fan of either of those sites you can go pick it up there, and it's still free.

Meanwhile I also did a short interview with Dead Space 3 composer James Hannigan over at BeefJack. I've also been disappearing down a big Star Trek hole, but there might be more on that later.

Boldy Going to a New Frontier

A week ago I wrote about reading Pulling Up Stakes by Peter David, aka PAD, mainly because I wanted to show support after his stroke, but then having the wonderful surprise of it being really bloody good. In that I mentioned I was also tempted by Star Trek: New Frontier.

My first geek love was Star Trek. Star Wars later stole it away, but it was the crews of Enterprise D and Deep Space Nine that I thoroughly adored. When I went to university, Voyager was midway through and I quickly lost interest, barely touched Enterprise, and was pretty appalled by Nemesis. But things weren't much better in the other franchise either.

Then there was a saviour. J J Abrams helmed a triumphic reboot of Star Trek and I was reminded how great a series it was. I still didn't do that much other than re-watch my favourite of the older movies and the Borg saga from The Next Generation. As I mentioned in the other Peter David post, I kept glancing toward New Frontier, but never got round to it. Until now. And it was brilliant.

BeefJack: The Cave Review

I've been looking forward to The Cave since it was announced. My love of games really started with The Secret of Monkey Island, so Ron Gilbert - and by extension Tim Schafer, then Double Fine - gets me excited about anything they works on. When Gilbert went to work at Double Fine everything came together into a glorious whole. The Cave was the physical manifestation of that... well if games can be called physical manifestations.

So it is with a sad heart I present my thoughts of said game:

The Cave Review

Pulling Up Stakes aka Helping Peter David

I've been a Peter David fan for years. But for some reason, exclusively his Marvel Comics work. I keep glancing at his other stuff - Young Justice at DC, New Frontier for Star Trek - and thinking I should give some of them a go, but I just never seemed to get round to it.

Then the terrible news over the holidays hit. PAD had a stroke, and what with him being an American, Peter's recovery was about to swallow a whole lot of funds. His wife, who has been a trooper keeping fans up to date when it would be so easy to concentrate on the more important things, explained pretty early on that one of the easiest ways to help was to buy his work. My first thought was I was finally going to start New Frontier, but Mrs David laid out several books of PADs that would be more help. The one that seemed most appealing to me was Pulling Up Stakes, a vampire novel dealing with a organised group of Vampire Hunters. The twist being that the main character was also secretly a vampire.

Fallowed Ground

My third short story is now available from Smashwords for all eReaders.

Unlike the previous two that took place in the same universe this is a totally a different setting. A proper sci-fi one. It's also the last of the stories I sat on. Now I need to get writing again.

Fallowed Ground

It is a golden age for Human expansion as they spread across the galaxy, colonising any world they find that is suitable. There is no end to what humanity can accomplish, but arrogance has always been their downfall, and nobody stops to consider what might happen if they choose the wrong world.

Bonus blog description:
Not every planet is barren, and not every territory is relinquished without blood first marking its Fallowed Ground.

That was suggested by Jamie Donnelly to be super cheesy. I love it, but it's not suitable for the story I think.

The Pitch

My second short story, The Pitch, is out. No, I'm not that quick. I may have had a few insecurities about releasing them, and other little things that just stopped me. Once I got The Sound of Money out the door most of those insecurities went with it. Another one will be appearing next week too.

This is a different character to the previous story, Gavin Talbot, who resides on the other side of the law to Nate Taylor.

 Once again it's free for all eReaders. Enjoy and tell your friends.

The Pitch

BeefJack: Game of the Year!

It seems I was a little distracted yesterday with the release of The Sound of Money to notice that over on BeefJack two other bits of my work went online.

First off is the Game of the Year article for The Walking Dead. Unlike all the other games in the GOTY series, this one had four of us argue for it, so I think it's safe to say its the winner. Have a read why Joannes, Ben, Sean and myself think Telltale's point and click was the most important game of 2012.

Also there's the final podcast of the year where, alongside Anthony and Danny, we talk about three of the biggest videogame stories of the last twelve months as well as more arguments for our Game of the Year picks (though mine's pretty much "Go listen to The Walking Dead special").

The Sound of Money

It's been a long time coming but my first short story, The Sound of Money, is finally available for anyone to download. Seriously, anyone, I'm giving this thing away.

See!

I'm in a really odd place right now. But this is one of a few surprises I intend to unleash over the next few days. I'm thinking the next will likely be after New Year now though. But what are you doing here reading this? There's a free book to go claim.

Assassin's Creed III addendum

A month or so ago I reviewed Assassin's Creed III for BeefJack, and I quite liked it. However, the way deadlines work and games the size of ACIII, you don't always get to complete the full game. You simply bomb through as much content as possible and get a decent feel for it.

After my review was done I went off to play Halo 4 (obviously), Need for Speed: Most Wanted and quite a few other games. I've now finally returned to ACIII to finish it up, and I'm starting to think that I got a bit too excited originally. The fact Assassin's Creed had recaptured the magic blinded me a little.

BeefJack: Primordia Review

Remember when I said that when I didn't review Baldur's Gate I got given something else? (It's right below this post, it's not hard to miss) That something else was Primordia. A point and click adventure game from Wadjet Eye and Wormwood.

Primordia review

This was a very good turn up for the books. The game was awesome. Now go read the review to find out why.

At this stage I can't praise Wadjet Eye enough. I played Gemini Rue earlier this year and loved it. I also have Resonance sitting in my Steam collection after buying it during a Steam Sale, but haven't had the time to get round to it. After the two I have played I think I might be working my way through the entire collection. Eventually.

BeefJack: Baldur's Gate Interview

Erm... well it's been awhile since I've been here. I've had to get a part time job for some extra monies in. As such I've been prepping a big surprise, and fulfilling my BeefJack duties. Speaking of which, here's an interview with Overhaul Games' Trent Oster all about their Enhanced Edition of Baldur's Gate.

Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition Interview

Baldur's Gate is the game responsible for getting me into RPGs. I loved it way back when, and have been pining for this new edition since it was announced. I was also meant to be reviewing it, but I was one of the few that got struck by its launch problems, so I had to pass it on. Instead I ended up with another game, which was a good thing, as you'll find out very soon.

BeefJack: Assassin's Creed III review

After Revelations my love for the Assassin's Creed franchise was seriously waning. The reveal of the American Revolution setting and wandering around the wilderness had me back in. Thanks to BeefJack I got my hands on a review copy, and I have to say Ubisoft have really brought it back from the edge.

Assassin's Creed III review

All Hallow's Eve: Alan Wake

It's Halloween which means it's time to play scary games. Rather than do a relay like a few years ago, I decided to take a stab at a new game. Well, new game for me anyway. Alan Wake. This was a bit of an odd one for me. I'd originally been excited, the web series Bright Falls put me off, then the American Nightmare XBLA game got me interested again. I picked it up cheap near the start of the year but was waiting for it to get dark in the evenings so I could play it properly. Halloween seemed like the perfect excuse, plus it helped with the BeefJack podcast.

I do like it. The setting, the mystery and the drama are all played brilliantly. It is a decent enough horror game too, BUT it ruins its own horror.