Jolt Country

Though this is a video game, this is a D&D game, so I figure this can go here.

Anyway, here's the release:

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020805/dem022_1.html

This will be the latest game that I will work myself into a furor over, weeks before it's actual release.

It's out and everything.

I can say that this is the game that I was kind of hoping that NWN would be.

It (IWD2) doesn't quite have all the available classes that Baldur's Gate II did, but then it's unlikely that we'll see a game in the near future that does, I guess. Icewind Dale II also managed to be the first D&D computer game that I can remember playing that did not have a handy store right from the get-go to purchase your wares from. I like the design already.

Good, good, good stuff.

Should also say: the first Icewind Dale was almost a pure hack and slash game. So far, it looks like there's a lot more story in the sequel. This is either a good thing or a bad thing depending on whether or not you're looking for a Diablo / Dungeon Siege kind of game, or one more story based like Star Trail or the Baldur's games, but personally I'm digging it.

(It could be that only the very first area is story intensive. I haven't got too far in the game yet. But one neat little bit has you attempting to get another party to kick some goblin ass, only they are more concerned with drinking beer than fighting. That's not something there was much of in the first IWD.)

More importantly:

Should I buy this game and then play it once and then never play it again?

I'm really sorry you got burned on Neverwinter Nights, but at the same time I had posted a rather scathing editorial on it before you purchased it. I'm not sure what else I could have done aside from driving to California and punching you in the gob right as you brought the credit card out to give to the greasy Fry's clerk, NWN in hand.

Should you buy this? From a certain philosophical standpoint, everyone should buy it. So speaking more as Ice Cream Satre than Ice Cream Jonsey I would say "yes." Also, the more D&D you learn now the better time you're going to have with the upcoming text adventure of mine.

However, in your case I'd say, "nah." Reason being is that Mafia just came out. I have an important decision to make myself on that, as it's a game which is apparently a lot like Grand Theft Auto III. You remember GTA3, right? We had such a great time discussing that game. Here's my dilema:


1) My dryer has not worked for about a year now. It will tumble clothes. But it will not actually provide any "heat" to them. I am a firm believer that warm = clean, so you can imagine how frustrating it has been to actually have to wash everything I wear before wearing it again. I mean, come on. So I need a dryer, but this is not new news.

2) My washer, though, broke just last week. It is over 20 years old. It was purchased on the recommendation of the guy who lived here before my brother Mike did. So to that I'd like to say, "thanks, Sparky!" I could probably exist without the washer or the dryer. But not both.

3) Mafia came out. Figure $50 for it.

4) I've been meaning to get a Playstation II for a while now, and a copy of Ico. I plan on making a mess of my boxers when that happens. There's not going to be a price cut on the PS2 anytime now. So I could drop $200 on the PS2 and another thirty for Ico. $230 total.

5) I'm probably looking at $230 minimum for a new washer, plus another $50 down at the local wreckage shop for a used dryer. So that's $280 total.

INTERESTING TIDBIT: I am getting a raise on Thursday, and just got another $1000 added to my credit limit. I currently have no credit card debt, either! Ha-ha!

So you can see the decision I need to make. I can game it cheaply for $50 and a copy of Mafia -- the game I recommend you get. We can both play the game and the BBS can enter one of its "good" phases. We can then both write an article when we stop playing it.

I can go get the PS2 and a copy of Ico, except that nobody else will have done so, and there will not be much to discuss. I am almost certain that I will love that game. No fun for the BBS.

I can function as a functioning adult and get things straightened so that one of the common nerd trappings I *don't* fall into is being clothed in stench-laden apparel. That would be the adult thing to do. Actually, fuck it, I'll start a poll somewhere.


Anyway, long story short: my advice is to go get Mafia and report back after I have decided on one of the other things. That way, I won't be able to resist getting it myself, especially if you talk it up.

Okay.

I will go get Mafia.

I will also go get this.

Well, how the fuck are you supposed to use the damn URL tag?!?!

I'm also going to get this.

Damn quotes.

Wait, you're gonna get Mafia!!! Dude, I'm gonna get Mafia, too!!!!!!!!! 1! 1!!!

CASH BE DAMNED.

I was just informed that while I am paying for the "NFL Ticket," I do get four free months of Directv. I thought I'd have to pay for Directv *and* the "Ticket." I get to see the Saints get crushed at, essentially, NO EXTRA CHARGE!!!!

I WILL PASS THE SAVINGS ONTO YOU!!

I see this as a kind of "bronze age" that we'll experience. We will be able to contrast and compare the game to GTA3. We will be able to call each other insulting names as we have insulting takes regarding GTA3. Ah-ha! Ha-ah! Ha-ha!

As it turns out, I bought the PS2.