So, Gamefly brought me Blazing Angels 2: Secrets of World War 2. I'm really enjoying it.



The game has a really unique control scheme that I've never seen before... though admittedly, I haven't played many console flight sims other than the Ace Combat and Star Fox series. The two key new innovations as far as I'm concerned are in the way you handle the speed of your aircraft, and the targeting of enemy forces. The right analog stick controls the throttle (up to accelerate, down to brake), and it feels great. Your controller shakes if you start going really fast, and when combined with the rumble from the machine guns, it really feels as though your hands are about to fall off and start vibrating across the floor like a cell phone gone haywire. The targeting is great as well, as you lock onto enemies with the L trigger. So long as you have that button held down, the enemy unit will stay in the middle of your screen. If an enemy plane flies past you, the camera turns so you can keep your eye on it as you turn to chase after him. Totally awesome.

The game also has a pretty robust upgrades system as well. For every kill you get or stunt you perform during the game, you gain Prestige Points. In between missions, you are allowed to upgrade various aspects of your weapons, your aircraft, or the abilities of your teammates. This kind of RPG element is actually very welcome as far as I'm concerned, as it allows me to modify the game a little bit to the style I want to play it. Right now, I've beefed up my maneuverability and speed, so my planes can dart in and out of battle really fast. Love it.

What an ending!

Wow. I finished Half Life 2: Episode 2 last night, and that's the only word I can think of to describe the final hour of the game. Wow. Or maybe "really-freakin-hard!"

I don't know if it is because I was playing with a console controller or what, but I had the hardest time finishing the final battle in White Forest. I found myself really struggling with the controls during the fight.. I'm not sure if I would have faced the same problem were I played it on the PC. I ended up dying a good bit! I won't post any spoilers or anything, because J might read this before he completes the Orange Box.

Overall, I'd say I was pretty pleased with the Orange Box. I enjoyed Portal, thought Episode 1 was pretty good, and thought the last half of Episode 2 was freaking awesome. The first half, not so much.. pretty boring actually. I didn't play much Team Fortress.. I tried it out for a bit, but wasn't really impressed. It's going to be a really long time before I play a multiplayer FPS that rivals Call of Duty 4.