What's Austen Playing This Week?

So, if it's not obvious I'm a bit of a gamer by now then you probably haven't been reading my posts. (Or you haven't spent more than five minutes with me) Anyway, I've noticed that lately there have been a ton of awesome new games coming out for various systems (most of which I don't have). It's gotten to the point where I've got a new thing to play every week. Which is pretty much impossible considering my lack of income coming in. But, I've tried to keep up as best I can.

And, seeing as how I've done a fairly good job thus far, I'm going to see how long I can keep it up. So, as of this moment, I'm instituting a new weekly post that explores the game(s) I'm playing during that week. And with no further ado...

Here's the first post! Yippee!

This week I've been deeply engrossed in The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS). It's been absolutely freaking fantastic thus far. I'm sure I'm at least 3/4 through the game and it has taken a consider amount of time and has been filled with countless hours of fun and brain rattling puzzles.

Now I have to clarify something for those who have yet to enjoy this game; Phantom Hourglass is a puzzle game. And a fairly tough one too. Most of the time you just stumble across the solutions by accident, sometimes you can't figure them no matter what you do. Until you slam your DS shut in frustration and then come back in an hour after you've cooled down, only to soon realize that the simple act of closing and reopening the DS was the desired action in the first place. (I kid you not) CURSE YOU WISDOM SPIRIT!!!

Later this week, I will be investing a fairly large amount of time to The Orange Box. It doesn't come out until Wednesday and I probably won't even get my grubby hands on it until Thursday, but I have no doubt that it will be well worth the wait. For those who don't know what The Orange Box is, allow me to explain. The Orange Box is a actually 5 games all wrapped up in one. Three of which are brand new. The games are: Half Life 2, Half Life 2: Episode 1, Episode 2, Team Fortress 2, and the greatly anticipated Portal.

I, personally, have never actually played Half Life and, honestly, I'm not all that interested in it. I'm interested in Portal. The game revolves around a gun you get in Half Life known as the "Portal Gun". How it works: It's very simple actually. You simply aim it a wall right next to you and fire. Then you aim it at another wall (this latter presumably being out of reach). This creates a "portal" between the two you just created. You walk through one portal and come out the other.

The guys over at Valve have taken this seemingly simple mechanic and created an entire game around it. Chock full with insane 3d puzzles that are sure to destroy your mind in the process from the sheer amount of awesome.

So that's what I'll be doing this week. How about you?

Also, a montage!