What I'm Playing - August

Just a brief post on what has caught my attention lately and why.

Fallout: New Vegas - Very excited for the next DLC, Lonesome Road to be released. The work that went into polishing the engine used in Fallout 3 definitely paid off. The DLC's in particular have been very enjoyable, as they are all interconnected into one storyline rather than just a mish-mash of tidbits.

Team Fortress 2 - I confess, I got into this game very, very late. I've had it for the longest time on 360 due to owning the Orange Box, but never really paid much attention to it until late. I've taken a particular liking to the Heavy and the Pyro. Most likely going to try the Engineer next. I can't say I'm any good at the game, but it's a ton of fun and Steam made it easy to buy things in the cash shop. I don't like the prices on most of the items though. I don't care how much fun a game is, $13 for a hat is a bit out there.

Free Realms - Yup, picked this up as well. The mining and blacksmith games have really caught my eye as they combine two things I really enjoy: Bejeweled and persistent character development. The fact that they lock out the profession entirely once you hit level 4 instead of just locking out the exp gain is disappointing, but Sony is now offering a Lifetime subscription to the game for $34.99. It's very tempting, though I will withhold buying it until I see about the other professions. Combat has only come across as dull to me.

World of Warcraft - Free Trial account. For the moment I'm enjoying the challenge of making my end-game level 20, and might level a few classes just to have them around when I miss the game but don't feel like resubbing. At this point I'm in the market for a new theme park MMO to take up my time, and for the moment I have my eye on SWTOR.

DC Universe Online - Yes, I did have a post previously about how I was given a 45-day free trial and found it uninteresting. I reactivated with a 10 day trial that was given to me by my brother. I still feel like I'm playing a single-player game. Got to the point where I could do instances, and nobody bothers to talk. General chat is...well, general chat. I am enjoying how they are using a huge amount of DC characters that are recognizable and well written, but it still seems to me that the social part of the game is far underdeveloped. This may end up in the same bin as WoW: Fun to visit, wouldn't want to live there.

I'll do this again next month, see how my tastes have changed. Might be nice to have a formal log of what I've been playing.