Feb 2 -- Snootytown

I'm a game snob. A gameur if you will. (You will, I'm going to use this word a lot). I turn my nose up at offerings like Sorry or Madden Football 2010. I want interesting ideas, excellent gameplay, a suitable challenge, and lots of re-playability. I can sniff out a good game even if it has crummy Atari graphics or is a stack of cards you cut out yourself. Similarly, there are some real stinkers dressed up in sexy clothes. Gaming is not a "get what you pay for" business any more than wine is. Sometimes I want a brand new game on the day it's released because I know it will be great--Super Mario Galaxy 2 would be a good example. For the most part I sample, buy things cheap, or used, or wait a "generation" to pick the winners after others have moved on. That's how I found today's game.

Game of the Day: BEYOND GOOD & EVIL

Remember that game with the cool female protagonist who used a combination of her wits and skills to defeat evil while NOT WEARING HOTPANTS? Metroid doesn't count--she totally wears hot pants under the armor. No? Because that game got made once, sold about six copies, and disappeared.

You are Jade, a hip reporter on plant Hillys who helps shelter orphans from the aliens that are attacking(!), but you begin to wonder if the government's fascist response is actually a good thing.

The game plays a like a 3D Zelda, but without the annoying hours of learning how to do everything--this point is driven home in the first ten minutes of play when you kung-fu a cadre of aliens away from your lighthouse rescue mission--no waiting for the Master Sword here. As a reporter, you have a gig to take pictures of wildlife on the planet to make some dough--this attracts the shadowy underground movement that enlists you to spy on the government's secret installations. Doesn't this sound awesome? It's great, it can be found used for under $10 and can be played on the Wii if you have a GameCube controller.


Gameurs! Hunt this one down.