GBM Productions

You got big trees, lightsabers, dudes jumping. Yep, this is Star Wars.

WHOA is he truly writing an article of impressions for a game that hasn’t been released yet!?  How can that be?  Well, I can tell you.  I am writing this impressions post on The Old Republic because I was in a few of the beta tests, and not just the latest stress test that they had out there. So what makes me qualified to tell you what I think about the Old Republic?  Well, I’ve played a few MMOs in my day, and I’ve beta tested many of them before getting them.  Hell, I even beta tested the old Star Wars MMO back in the day.  I didn’t pick it up.  The Old Republic, however, is a game that will get my money.  In fact, I’m already down for a Collectors Edition when it comes out in the next few weeks.  My early start client is ready to go, just waiting for the servers to open so I can experience the beauty that is The Old Republic.  So now you know what I think.  I love it.  I think its interesting, fun, and it plays great.  Its different than other MMOs, but also very similar.  Read on my friend, and I will give you my full impressions of Star Wars: The Old Republic.
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Honestly, I don't even know if this is the same game. With all the expansions, I never know which one is real. At least I know fo sho that you'll be shooting tentacle monsters.

Have you heard of Arkham Horror?  It appears that whenever I ask anyone this question, there are only two possible answers.  Either no, you’ve never heard of it.  Easy enough.  Or yes, you’ve heard of it and you want to or have played it.  BTW I keep wanting to spell it “Plaid” but I know that is incorrect.  Anyway, Arkham Horror is a board game that focuses on the Lovecraft mythos and makes it a game.  I don’t know how much it actually pools in from the books, but it definitely has the expected references to other world, ancient ones, demons, sanity, and all the other things that you’re thinking of when one says Lovecraft.  How do they transform this property into a game?  And even better, how did they manage to make a bazillion expansions for what is essentially a pretty simple game?  Well, they made it into a board game that lasts forever and except for a few basic rules it plays itself.  Thats how you do it.  Sure, there are things one worries about and choices one makes, but oftentimes they’re choices not really worth making.  And the times when you probably would have made a choice against the obvious, they’ve gone and taken away that choice.  This is getting a bit ahead of myself, but suffice it to say Arkham Horror is best played in a group with friends.  The “horror” aspects are mild but having friends cheer you on makes each dice roll a little more fun, and a little more meaningful.  Even if the rest of the choices aren’t as much.
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This is the box to look for. Notice that sweet cover art. Now that is fancy.

As I said in my introduction, we’re not just about console and PC games here at GBM Productions.  Today, I wanted to bring your attention to the game Race For The Galaxy.  Its a boardgame created by Rio Grande Games, the same people who did Dominion and San Juan.  I don’t know if calling it a board game is truly right, as its played with cards.  But you do get a tableau onto which you play your cards. I’m getting ahead of myself here.  Lets start from the beginning.  I’ll give you guys a nice little run down on how the game is played, where to get it, and some pros and cons.  There are a number of things I like about the game, and a few that I don’t.  Luckily, its a pretty awesome game to waste 30-60 minutes on and you can play it with 2 people to 4 people.  There are also some expansions, which I have not played, that apparently increase the max players to 6 and even the minimum players to 1, giving a robot “AI” to play against.  Its pretty sweet for a board game, but, I haven’t given it a shot.  Lets talk about what I have given a shot, the actual game.
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Check out that sweet title. That is a guy who is gonna wreck something.

The Witcher 2.  This is a game that matters in the world, but no one knows it.  Its got a number of things going for it, and its got a number of things going against it.  And most importantly, you probably never even heard of it. Now, I can’t really blame you.  Why would you have?  Its for the PC (who plays PC games anymore, GEEZ!?), its from a relatively unknown company (CD Projekt, a small Polish company, can’t blame you for not having heard of them), and its an RPG (Does anyone play RPGs anymore?). Everyone is probably thinking that I don’t like it, or that it sucks, or its small, or even worse its one of those indie games from a foreign land that will never get the recognition it may or may not deserve.  The honest truth though, is that it is awesome.  It is worth every penny you would spend on it.
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This is a game for you and your friends.

Do you guys know Magic the gathering?  Its a fancy pants collectible card game thats been going on FOREVER.  Well, over 20 years, I think?  Point is, its still around, and its still awesome.  There is a new Innistrad expansion that just came out, another one being released in the next few months, and the 2012 edition proper just came out a few months ago.  How is it?  Its pretty awesome.  A few friends and I started a magic Wednesday night where we just play and play.  And its a lot of fun.  It is a money sink, I know, but thats part of the enjoyment.  Getting new cards, checking them out, and making decks is what collectible card games are all about and Magic is really the frontier of this trend.  Before WOW card game, before Pokemon, there was Magic.  And Magic is a good time.  I know most people already know what Magic is, or have at least heard of it in some nerd circle they were near while drinking their fancy martinis.  But Magic is more than just a nerd, geek pasttime.  Its a way to socialize with people who aren’t anti-social but just shy.  Its a way to spend a few hours while standing in line for something, especially this holiday season when the lines at the local Megamart are long.  Magic isn’t for everyone, I know, but it is at least somewhat suitable for most.  So lets talk about it and give you some idea of what you’re getting into when it comes to Magic.
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Hello everybody!

These two kittens are trying out different cups. The one on the left thinks this is nap time. The one on the right does not approve of the cup. Its science!

I am sorry I have not written for a while (August, near as I can tell) but life has been busy.  However, if you’ve been looking forward to, itching even, for more updates, then this is the week for you.  I’m calling it, Impressions Week and I think its something that I can get behind doing every few months.  The idea for this week is pretty simple, to be honest.  I don’t have time to write full game reviews, and Hell, I often don’t have time to play full games.  But, I try to get my hands on all kinds of things to try on a regular basis so that my knowledge of everything doesn’t fall to the wayside.  So I decided to do a whole week of impressions.  Every day, including today, I will put a post for a different game that I have played.  But these posts will be more so than just general impressions I got.  Oh no!  There will be Pros and Cons, overviews on how to play, where to get the game, and things like that.  And this is not just PC games, not just console games, but also board and card games.  I’m not going to review something everyone knows (Solitaire – #1 game to play when bored at work, guaranteed!) but I’ll try to cover some main-stream coverage of games as well.  So, please do come back everyday this week for a new impression of a different game.  First post should be up in a few hours!

Cheers,

Marcin