Jacuzzi Bioshock

We finally finished playing Bioshock this past weekend. We actually started it about nine months ago, but then we moved, and moved again, then moved yet again, and it's only now that we are settled in SF that we decided to get back into it. I say "we" not because I like to refer to myself in the plural, but actually as in my girl and I, as we have been playing together. Yeah, I know there is no co-op in Bioshock, but it's an adventure game that can be entertaining for even those not playing, and these next-to-you-on-the-couch-drivers can actually help sometimes, especially if they want to throw out ideas of what to do next ("try shooting an electric bolt at that broken door panel"), or point out to the person playing stuff they may have missed ("there's money on the floor right there"), or just help when you're trying to hack stuff ("the bendy piece you need is right there! ").

We actually had a lot of fun playing through the game together, and I credit her being there for getting as many achievements as we did (46 out of 51, or 840 points out of a possible 1100 - not bad for one playthrough). Now the challenge is going to be finding another game she can enjoy watching me play and participate at that level in getting through... I've tried Fallout 3, Left for Dead, Dead Space and Rock Band 2, but none of them have captured her imagination like Bioshock did. They just don't have the same pacing, compelling presentation and/or feeling of a backstory. I'm going to try the New Prince of Persia next to see if she digs that, but I'm thinking I may wait a few days or a week before I try, as I think her love of the Bioshock look and feel may need to fade a bit before she is ready to commit to a new game world.

I have to say that I'm kind of enjoying Fallout 3 so far. I don't easily get into RPG's anymore because I often can't help but see through the game and characters to the database driving its system, but the post nuclear war scenario is interesting enough to keep me curious, I like the fact that there is an alignment system that affects the way the game rolls out (at least it feels like it does, which is good enough) and so far I haven't grown tired with the exploration aspect of the game (probably in large part because you can jump to places you've visited before rather than having to walk or run there again across the hugeness of the world).

Deadspace is a nice adventure game so far, but I've only just started it, so we'll see how it turns out. My first impression is that it pretty cliche, but well done enough to keep playing.

Left 4 Dead I'm also just starting, but my first impression honestly was, well two impression actually - 1. Crap, this game really wants me to play co-op, and 2. These zombies offend me with their running! Don't get me wrong, co-op and multiplayer games rock, but for whatever reason my initial reaction to them is often like first getting into a pool; jumping in is hard, but once I'm in, I know I'll get used to the water and totally enjoy myself. I just need to have a few hours to devote to it and then I can take the plunge. On the running zombies, I just wasn't expecting them... I loved the fast zombies in 28 Days Later , because they were different, but when I sat down to play Left 4 Dead I was expecting the slow moving kind that I would require me to stay calm and think tactically about how to defeat or get around. The running kind combined with pistols with infinite ammo immediately forced me to be more twitchy about my game play style. It doesn't help that I just finished reading "Day by Day Armageddon", another slow moving zombie novel.

Rock Band 2... well, I'm not convinced I can't get her hooked yet. I just need her to find a song she likes that she can do well on. But I may just be doomed as she is more of a dancer than a musician. Even on New Years, when I brought Rock Band 2 up to my sister's friend's cabin and everyone (pretty much all non-gamers) played it for like six hours, she just didn't get into it, so it may be a hopeless cause. I think I'm going to give it one more shot and ask her to play a bit on her own, so she can practice without anyone watching or comparing her abilities to theirs. Maybe I'll spin it as a game where she could conceivably become better at it than me since our experience playing these kinds of games is virtually the same. Yeah, that might be the ticket.

Speaking of New Years, my sister called on Monday to inform me that her friend had caught some sort of skin infection from the Jacuzzi we all hung out drinking in that night. Folic-cue-lite-ous (no idea how it's spelled) was what it is called, and the symptoms are red spots all over your body. A skin infection? Fabulous! That's exactly what I need! But it turns out I didn't have it. In fact, it's apparently one of those things that everyone pretty much has, the bugs that cause it I mean, like staff infections, but sometimes people's immune systems can't handle it, or they get a strain they've never encountered, or whatever... I was just happy to not have red spots all over my body and to not have to find a doctor here yet. I mean seriously, if you are going to get a disease that you need to see a doctor for from being a jacuzzi, then you want something more interesting than that right?!? Well, er, on second thought, perhaps not if your sister was one of the people in the jacuzzi with you.