SEE YOU IN HELL PARKING GARAGE!!!

I finished GRAW a few days ago. The last level was some fine urban combat. All in all a decent game, but nowhere near the original. It’s unfortunate that console gaming is dictating how many new PC games are made. Instead of tactical shooters with 8 men, all of whom you can control, you get 3 idiots with bipolar AI and (at times) terrible pathfinding. In one scenario I told my team to head straight west across the map to a waypoint in order to avoid a couple of tanks nearby. 2 of the 3 did the smart thing, the third decided to head north, pass by the tanks, and then come south again. Over the satellite, I got to watch him dive and dodge as two tanks fired machineguns and missiles at him. It was like watching the Three Stooges. Miraculously, he survived without a scratch.

There were also a few times when I was trying to flank the enemy and was told I was leaving the mission area. If I proceeded further, the game would end. Some of these points were right where I needed to go to get a good shot and I was forced to bounce a grenade in instead. I understand the desire to keep the illusion of an open battlefield, but to me it’s less obtrusive to have blockades and fires blocking your way then some invisible forcefield.

Well, enough about that. Time to switch gears and start a new game. Brixtone and HolyCow got me the Diablo II battle chest for my birthday so I fired that up. I’ve never played the Diablo series, but have played both Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance games on the Xbox, so I’m familiar with the hack n’ slash genre. I’m only a few hours in and so far it’s been occupying my mind a lot more than I thought it would. Unfortunately for me, I don’t have much free time these days. Oh well, I guess I can get by with less sleep….