Video game fun, old and new

I finally loaded my copy of Doom 3 onto my computer the other night. I've only had the chance to play for a couple of hours, but I must say, so far so good. Other members of my online gaming group have remarked that the game reminds them somewhat of Half-Life. I agree somewhat, but I'd say it reminds me more of System Shock 2 without the RPG-style character development. While all three games involve monsters, aliens, and the walking dead in an outer space/future setting, Half-Life is brightly illuminated for most of the game. Doom 3 and System Shock 2 have much darker areas, and a creepier overall feel--you can hear things going bump in the night. D3 also features some of the best monster animations I've ever seen in a game. The zombies shuffle and lurch a la Dawn of the Dead (too many zombie games feature running zombies, like those in 28 Days Later) and the fireball-throwing critters that I assume are the imps from the original Doom slither across the walls and ceilings like Spiderman before jumping in your face to attack. Don't be too scared off by the massive system requirements, either. My video card is an aging Radeon 9500 Pro, and I was able to strike a good balance between detail and speed at 800x600 resolution. I'll post more when (and if!) I get the time to get further into the game.

I also rediscovered an old favorite last night. I was sitting on my couch watching TiVo'd Law & Order reruns when I suddenly got the urge to play DX-Ball. It's a Breakout-type game (actually a clone of the old Amiga game Hyperball) with lots of "prizes", both good and bad, that fall out when you hit certain blocks (selected at random). An old girlfriend got me hooked on it during my freshman year of college. Unfortunately, when we split, her computer was the one with DX-Ball installed on it, and I hadn't seen the game since. So I pulled out my trusty iBook (the 12-inch variety; it's the perfect couch companion) and Googled up the game. Amazingly, someone actually ported it to the Mac, so I downloaded the free version and played the night away. The free version comes with 50 levels, and trust me, it'll take you a long time before you're able to get through them all. Highly recommended.