Diamond in the Rough

I may contradict myself in this article, but just bear with me and hopefully you will see my point. I will start off by saying that I have fallen prey to all the media hype and advertising of the large game developers. Looking at the past games that I have bought I see titles such as Fable II, Star Wars Unleashed, Grand Theft Auto IV and a basketball game that I will not mention, because it caused me so much aggro. Even the games that I have rented; Fallout 3 and Afro Samurai, all good games, some better than others, but that’s a whole other article.

Anyway, during the past couple months I have been walking the aisles of various retail and game/video rental stores, upset with the selection that was being offered. I can almost hear my childish moans of disappointment when I walked out of the stores empty handed. The holiday rush of new releases has been over for a while and there haven’t been too many hyped released recently. I know there are games that I am forgetting, but this is my confessional! (Feel free to leave a comment of games that I should try.)

If there is nothing out there worth playing what is filling all the shelves at the stores and how are these stores staying in business? Then a buddy gave me King Kong to play. Kong…seriously? The movie was alright and I heard the game spat out gamerpoints, but did I really want to invest time into this title? I thought about it and those easy G’s made up my mind for me, so I insert the game into the Xbox.

As soon as I start the game I feel justified about my preconceived notions of the game. The graphics are lacking, the camera feels sluggish and the beginning scenes didn’t excite even though they were actual shots from the movie. I’m only 20 minutes into the game and just tell myself to get used to the graphics and stop whining.

I play the first level and realize that I am having fun! Alright, let’s get through the second level and see if the pace can maintain. When I finish the second level I can feel the adrenaline racing. On to the third level….HOLY COW a T-Rex is chasing me!

I am shocked at how much fun the game is and can’t wait to play some more. Don’t get me wrong; this game isn’t great and has flaws, as stated above. I can also see why other games, such as Fallout 3 get all the acclaim, but there are some gems out there to be discovered. Kong has opened my eyes and I am going to make a conscious effort to play some of those lesser known titles. It’s a given that I will find some real garbage in my search, but hopefully I will find that one gem to share with all of you.