In the Big City

Sunday (Feb 8th) was Leah’s birthday.  When I asked her a few weeks ago what she wanted to do to celebrate her response was “I want to go here” and then she linked me to the New York Comic Con.  I have never been to a comic convention before, I haven’t been to NYC in years, and I knew the Penny Arcade guys would be there so she didn’t have to do much work to sell me on the idea.  So on Sunday we packed a bag with the necessary nerd gear of DS, graphic novels and a good camera and we headed off to the big city.

Now I know that Leah is planning on making a giant post detailing our experience both in the city and at the con but I wanted to take this opportunity to talk about a few of the games I got to play while in the big apple.  I got to spend a bit of time with The Chronicles of Riddick:  Assault on Dark Athena as well as Grand Theft Auto:  Chinatown Wars at the con.  GTA: Chinatown Wars was actually the first thing I was met with as I walked onto the show floor.  They had a pretty cool setup with a bunch of DSs running the game and a bunch of swag they were giving away to con goers.  Playing the game was a really awesome experience.  GTA:  Chinatown Wars has a top down view much like that of the original two GTA games.  This isn’t surprising based on the platform the game is running on.  Had the game been released on the PSP I would have been disappointed by this but on the DS it is both necessary and a bit refreshing.  Instead of pushing the envelope and trying to run some sort of 3D madness they instead went back to something tried and true and it runs beautifully on the DS.  Driving the cars is easy and fun and the touch screen makes all the various functions like checking your GPS or email to run missions simple to do.  Overall I was really impressed with how intuitive the game was to play.  I was really unsure of how this would control on the DS and I have to say I’m pretty sold on GTA:  Chinatown Wars now.

Getting to see GTA: CW at the show was exciting but getting to play Chronicles of Riddick:  Assault on Dark Athena really sent this con over the edge into great for me.  I have been looking forward to this game since it was announced.  The first Riddick game on the original Xbox was an incredible experience and one I will not soon forget.  Dark Athena definitely gave me the same vibes as the original only with a much shinier, next gen coating.  The controls feel very similar to the original xbox game and the graphics look truly incredible.  The sound design and overall atmosphere are incredibly immersive.  I only got to play for about 15 minutes so I can’t speak too much to the AI but I am salivating for this game to be released.  I think those who have played the original Riddick game are going to be extremely pleased with how this remake is coming along and those who never got to play it the first time around are in for quite a treat.  Buy this when it comes out people.  Trust me and just do it.  

That’s all from me for now.  I’m going to wait patiently in a corner for our mics and cables to arrive so Leah and I can actually discuss this stuff in a real time format for all of you to hear.  For now look forward to a recap post of great justice from Leah.