Now That's A Ring...

Pretty much no one who read that title probably figured I was referring to the fictional object dominating the game known as Halo. I actually didn't have a clue what the plot was when I downlaoded it, just knowing it was a FPS. This game turned out to be a really mixed bag. It did some stuff really well, and other stuff not so well. There was more to the plot than most game, with some decent length mini movies in between levels making it seem like there was a point to what you were doing. One is even reminiscient of Aliens in that you look through the video mounted to someone else's helmet as they meet their fate. It's actually kind of interesting how entertaining it is to see things from someone else's perspective. Whether spectating a multiplayer game through someone's eyes, or watching a movie when the camera walks around as the person and you're seeing their view, it's just a neat thing to see the world from another's perspective and see the way they do things, and the way it's like on their end. Unfortunately the levels themselves were a random assortment of entertainment. Some were terribly repetitive and exceptionally boring. You'd literally fight through the exact same floorplan of a room like 5 times in succession with just a different mixture of bad guys inhabiting them. Other levels were very well designed, using atmosphere and sheer amount of outdoor space to set the tone. While some parts of the game were so boring I was just playing for the satisfaction of finishing and nothing else, some were quite fun, especially those involving controlling moving vehicles such as jeeps or tanks. The ending sequence in particular is quite exciting as ending sequences go. The ending itself is better than average, although you still kind of had that "are they really going to roll the credits just like that" feeling. The weakest part of this game I felt was the length. It's about 8 hours on normal difficulty, which is quite short for a single player campaign. Someone who plays an hour a day would only get a week or so out of buying the game, which is still full priced. There's a multiplayer aspect that as usual I haven't tried, but I wasn't impressed enough with the engine to recommend it for purchase just for that aspect. At times the enemy's movements were so jerky you could empty a full clip and a half into their general area and still come up empty. So overall quite entertaining storyline and well done set pieces, with some mediocre action in between.

I did actually get out this weekend as well, as I headed over to Sea World. There are only three nationwide and I'd been to the one in San Diego and thoroughly enjoyed it, so I figured I'd see if this one was up to par. The shows were more of the same, although as a whole I have to give the edge to San Diego. Interestingly enough though this one actually had two decent sized roller caosters in the park which were pretty fun. Since Sea World doesn't attract the major crowds of a Six Flags, being able to just stay on for multiple rides is pretty nifty. One of them was a suspended style beneath the track looper much like Batman at Magic Mountain or Top Gun at Great America, basically an identical layout to Batman. It's actually a very different feeling on that type of ride to be in the very front or the very back. Accelerating into or out of loops are two very different sensations, I recommend both to decide which you like better. Nothing beats the way back on big dips though, that over the top feeling is top notch. I continued my tradition of beating down the competition at the Whack a Mole game, and have a cute little blue dolphin curved stuffed animal thing that fits quite nice as a round the neck pillow to show for it. I also continued the tradition of getting myself onto the big Jumbotron at the Shamu show. Before this one they would put questions up on the board with choices and zoom in on someone random and they'd have to hold up fingers that represented the number of the correct answer... I of course had the dolphin sitting on my shoulder and was having it hold up fingers which apparently caught the attention of the camerawoman across the way, and boom there I am sixty feet tall. Usually I managed to get on the San Diego ones for getting thoroughly soaked when they came by on the splash run, so it was fun to be on TV without even making a total idiot of myself. Or then again maybe I was anyway. I did manage to get insanely wet, having never seen the show there I had no idea when they were going to get everyone, and I pretty much accidentally picked the perfect spot for the very first tail whacking that just hammered my whole section. It's a wonder things like my wallet and cell phone ever dry out after those kinds of things. Good times. If you ever go to Sea World, wear old clothes, and don't worry about getting wet, because it really does make it ten times more fun. Then you can go on those rides with the waterfall you go under in the big intertube and not worried about getting soaked, because you already are. In San Diego we went on that like four times in a row. Fun stuff. Alas, it's always good to let the kid in you get out every once in a while.

Tickets are purchased, I'll be arriving on Christmas morning and leaving New Years afternoon, anyone wanting to hook up between those days other than New Years Eve let me know, I'll have some down time. Speaking of which, this will probably be the only time I'm in LA for all of next year other than a quick day or two turnaround for my sister's wedding, so it'd be cool to see people before I'm back over here for the year.