If someone invented chocolate chip video games, my life would be complete

After going through my usual Sunday routine of waking up late, reading my webcomics (only about eight out of a hundred or so update on Sundays, so it's fairly easy), downloading some software updates and having a mug of Ribena and some chocolate chip cookies in lieu of an actual breakfast, I finally got around to playing Portal today.

I haven't finished it yet, but I got very close to the end before failing a challenge and restarting before I'd even done the previous one. That was the only time I disliked anything about the game and the checkpoint system had worked fine until then. Of course, the fact that I got so far in one sitting does highlight just how short the game is and, as with most puzzle-based games, there's very limited replay value unless you want to do some speed-running.

It's brilliantly atmospheric though and you'll often find that a statement by the slightly creepy computerised voice will make you laugh at the same time as shivers pass down your spine.

You know what I've just realised? I forgot to do a woodle again this week. I'll try to remember for next week, but I really need to just get into a routine, like I have done with my daily posts here. Unfortunately, I seem to have fallen into a subroutine (I'm trying not to make any programming jokes, I really am) where I do them really late at night.

Well, at least I've now pretty much got my university application done. It just needs to get checked over by a teacher tomorrow and then I should have it sent away by the end of Tuesday. I may well spend a whole lot of time worrying about getting information back but I suspect it'll be more like my exams, when I just got them over with and more or less forgot about them until the envelope got tossed on my desk.

I also managed to play a bit more of Half Life 2: Episode 2 today and was hugely impressed by it as well. More than any other game, Half Life's plot always manages to keep me interested and guessing. My only grievance is that so far, at about halfway through this expansion pack, I've fought a lot of ant lions and relatively few enemy soldiers.

It's really a very minor problem and I'm sure I wouldn't even have noticed it if it weren't for Halo 3, where I rapidly tired of fighting the Flood and rarely replay those levels. I prefer having more options when attacking my enemies than “AAAAARGH!!!! Where's the shotgun?! I need another energy sword!!”. Half Life does add a slightly tactical edge with different variations of ant lions, “thumpers” which hit the ground and drive them away, providing a temporary safe haven, and the ability to command the creatures at points. But in Halo, the Flood always disappoint me after I've just found the fifth way to kill the Scarab walker in the previous level.

I wonder if that type of enemy is worth writing up for TV Tropes... Might give it a shot, see if anybody else has some ideas. But that's all from me tonight. I may put up a short-ish post tomorrow before I go for a hospital appointment and then edit it later, just in case. I doubt it'll be a problem, but the appointment's relatively late and it's a bit of a drive... and I've got some homework to do then as well... Yeah, I'll figure it out as I got along.

Have a nice day.