Prince of Persia: Sands of Time

Lookit that mug. That's the face of someone who's seen more than his fair share of fucked up shit. And it's true, he has. Sand demons, unnecessary spikes everywhere, an evil king's assistant (called the Vizier) copying Jafar's moves from Disney's Aladdin and trying to acquire a source of power that he doesn't understand. You know, just another Tuesday, really.

The unnamed Prince in the game is arrogant, sarcastic, and mostly shirtless during the game but that doesn't stop you from liking the character. Indeed not, the charm is when he starts talking to himself randomly as you're playing, acting like any of us might when frustrated or angry at someone: he mocks them. Of course, he is not always so bratty and he even proves himself once he gains a little Sands of Time power, learning how to use it deftly and kicking the asses of evil sand minions.

The Jak & Daxter Precursor Legacy

Jak & Daxter. Jak & Dax. Jaxter. Whatever you may want to call it, it's a fun and addicting series. The subtitle of the first game, "The Precursor Legacy", alludes to the Precursors, god-like beings who create the world and the universe around it as well as Precursor orbs which are a kind of rare currency. Kind of.

The series is difficult to tackle because each game seems to exude a different attitude as both the main characters evolve and grow. The first is more innocent with darker undertones as Jak discovers a lot more about Lurkers and time travel than he ever thought he would. While Daxter has to learn how to cope with being turned into an ottsel after falling into a vat of Dark Eco. Eco being a natural gas Jak's village uses as a source of power, with different properties which can be harvested for different uses, like energy or fuel, or say, secret powers.

For the whole of the game Jak doesn't speak and we have to rely on Daxter's witty observations to get a sense of what Jak may be thinking or feeling. Being best friends they are apparently at the stage where they can practically read each other's minds.

Precursor Legacy is more about discovering and unlocking the hidden abilities that Jak has stowed away in his genes and learning more about what kind of world they come from, which comes in handy once you get to the ending and start up the second game (which picks up right where it left off, pretty much).

Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus

As a gamer, this Sucker Punch Studios game intrigued me. As a fan of raccoons, this game intrigued me more. I was probably more excited for this game than I should have been, but it couldn't be helped really.

I'm pretty sure all I did was just hear about the game and was already out purchasing but my memory is a little foggy. Needless to say Sucker Punch did not disappoint and I not only thoroughly enjoyed Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus but the following sequels were also quickly in my collection as soon as they were released. The game has that much charm.

As you can see above, Sly Cooper does not only look good as a street punk but he's also not human. In fact, he's a raccoon who comes from a long line of master thieves. Each ancestor had a distinct special skill that they would add to a book known as the Thievius Racoonus, which got handed down from each generation to the next young thief-to-be.

Obscure: a game living up to its name

This game is... odd. It's odd because there are a lot of good things to say about it, but there are also a lot of bad things. The fact that I haven't even completed the game is not a good sign, and I will probably never finish it for one very good reason, of which I will have to explain in just a minute.

First, this game did a lot of things right. It handled the controls and combat mechanics pretty well, in fact anyone who has played Resident Evil or Silent Hill may be very comfortable with it, though it's still different and takes some getting used to. I liked having the ability to scroll through inventory without switching screens, it was all real-time (so to speak) which made it easier to quickly switch weapons or items without breaking the action on the screen (if there is any).

The creatures are definitely scary and creeped me out quite a bit, which isn't too weird but I do enjoy horror movies and horror games yetI still get a little scared. Having things jump out at me randomly or just be visually hideous and disturbing will freak me out in a game moreso than in a movie, mostly because I'm more involved in the former and actually have to do something. In a movie it's all kind of passive-aggressive and I don't need to tell the person on screen to turn around and run, they'll do it on their own. Or not, depending on what movie you're watching.

Obscure is one of those games that can easily draw you in. The graphics engine isn't Bethesda-scale, but it's about what you'd expect from a survival-horror game. The characters are a little generic and predictable but considering they're all high school students I guess that's to be expected. The story is typical, sure, but it's got a unique twist to it that starts off as just a missing friend and ends up having some weird squid-face beheamoth chasing you through a dank tunnel.

Doublefine's Psychonauts

As mentioned in my Brutal Legend post, Psychonauts was Tim Schafer's first game released independently under his Doublefine Studios brand. Prior to Brutal Legend's release you may not have even known about this game due to lack of proper marketing. Call it noob syndrome, call it laziness, call it "just not knowing what to do", Tim Schafer just didn't promote the game enough to get people hyped up about it. So on release day sales weren't what you'd expect, but thanks to word-of-mouth Psychonauts' popularity picked up after release because people were writing good things about it. Lots of good things.

I picked up this game not too long after it was released and it remains one of my top favourites. I had seen enough stills and read enough reviews to know that it was for me. The pictures of the"Black Velvetopia" level alone intrigued because it reminded me of Oogie Boogie's lair from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Once I popped that disc in, it was love at first play. Even the main menu was endearing, with the mini-Raz running around a rotating brain and the figments floating around you.

Psychonauts takes place at Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp. As you could guess, it's for children with psychic powers who either wish to hone their skills better, or for those who are too unstable to be anywhere else. It starts off with a dramatic campfire speech from short-stack Coach Oleander, an ex-military camp counselor who is about one taco short of a combo meal at times, and whose own psychic abilities aren't as great as the three other counselors, Milla, Agent Sasha Nein (male), and Ford Cruller.

Our main character, Rasputin, literally crashes the party stating he wants to learn to become a Psychonaut. Unfortunately for him he doesn't have his parent's permission to attend so he is only allowed to stay for however long it takes for them to pick him up. You spend most of the first half of the game exploring the camp grounds, listening in on the other campers' conversation (which surprisingly goes on for a long time before it loops), and learning and discovering new powers. You can also dig up arrowheads from the ground which can be used to buy items from the store, and you'll spend a lot of time collecting these in order to get all the fancy gadgets.