Smile and Nod: Games to Ease the Summer Drought

Russ Pitts fights the summer gaming doldrums by busting out five oldies but goodies.

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I'm working my way through all three Metal Gear Solids. It's a great deal as you get three for $30 in a box set. I would be remiss not to acknowledge that MGS4 played a small part in attempting this retrospective.

I'm going to do the same thing, though with different games (offcourse). I'll pick up Overlord again, it was actually a nice refreshing break from the shooterfest I'm used to on my xbox. Another one is Battlestations Midway, which I hope to find someone to play against online. It was a fun game and worked great for multiplayer

I want to trumpet the horn for Beyond Good and Evil.
Awesome game, great story and a sequel coming out shortly. Get on it.

Goofonian:
I want to trumpet the horn for Beyond Good and Evil.

At the Escapist, when you hear someone say "Psychonauts," he/she probably actually said "PsychonautsBeyondGoodAndEvilGrimFandango" all in one breath if you listed closely enough.

oneplus999:

Goofonian:
I want to trumpet the horn for Beyond Good and Evil.

At the Escapist, when you hear someone say "Psychonauts," he/she probably actually said "PsychonautsBeyondGoodAndEvilGrimFandango" all in one breath if you listed closely enough.

Very very true.

Okami is fucking awesome. Best game on the Wii for me, hands down.

I'm buying Psychonauts ASAP. It's official.

But dammit, i can't find "Beyond Good and Evil" anywhere! I need to, jesus.

YOu can get it on steam I think

Yeah, that 'Brush With Death' quest is pretty awesome. I'm glad we're in agreement over that. You played Shivering Isles yet, Mr. Pitts?

I'm playing Deus Ex and Deus Ex 2, and then hoping to write a comparative review on them.

Apart from that I'm playing a lot of Football Manager (David Villa FTW!), and scoping around for some older games that my crapbox will run.

I like to stay in the spirit of summer by using my portable units more and sit poolside. Picked up a nice, long JRPG for the DS that should take me days to plough through. Mmmm...leveling up...

I still plan to finish the Baldurs Gate series some day - I may have another bash this summer!

My summer drought is going to last me purely in July, and even then I got plenty to go. I just grabbed Ninja Gaiden 2, picked up Mass Effect for cheap so I'll be able to finish that (and probably replay to grab some Achievements), I still need to either continue or restart Overlord, and I also just managed to grab Dead or Alive 4 at a decent trade-off. Fallout 2 should also be arriving in the mail anytime soon. Then there's Alone in the Dark and Operation: Darkness coming out at the end of the month, and thankfully I can stock my wallet throughout July until Harvest Moon at the end of that month, and then August is...well, August is a complete torrent of titles. We have Hellboy and Highlander, which are required by me to purchase due to fanboyism (unless the titles get pushed back), there's Too Human coming out, and I might be grabbing the new Tales Of game coming out.

I think the major problem with summers is games don't come out until August, but even last year had some nifty titles (Project Sylpheed came out in July of last year, and Overlord was also a midsummer release).

oneplus999:

Goofonian:
I want to trumpet the horn for Beyond Good and Evil.

At the Escapist, when you hear someone say "Psychonauts," he/she probably actually said "PsychonautsBeyondGoodAndEvilGrimFandango" all in one breath if you listed closely enough.

Pretty much, yes.

Me, I'm sinking my time into some time management with Persona 3 FES. The summer drought, stupid as it is, happens to be the perfect time to sit through an interminable Japanese-style RPG. My loved ones have already started hearing the catchy J-Pop soundtrack in their sleep.

That, and MGS4, Mass Effect PC, The Experiment, Bioshock, BG&E, Ar Tonelico, The Witcher (once the Enhanced Edition patch hits), and No More Heroes.

im sinking my free time into EVE now Factional Warfare is live. So far has been an absolute blast. Oh & Pizza Connection 2 if I get it working

Overlord is $20 now, & definitely a bargain at that price point.

I don't mind the slow points in the video game year because there are always a dozen intriguing games out there that I never quite got around to playing.

Just got Mass Effect for the PC, and it is extremely awesome.
BioWare know their stuff. I have to say I'm enjoying it way more than Oblivion.

SomeBritishDude:
YOu can get [Psychonauts] on steam I think

Not only that, but until the end of the year you can get it for free on GameTap. Just sign up for an account, and play. I'm nearing the end of the game, and loving most of the minutes of it.

General opinion: decent, occasionally infuriating gameplay, best world and writing I've ever seen in a game. I definitely recommend it.

You played Shivering Isles yet, Mr. Pitts?

I have it installed, but haven't gotten around to opening the door yet.

Also, for the record, Beyond Good and Evil was very close to making it on the list. I'm excited about the upcoming sequel. Hope it does well.

I bought Civilisation Revolutions while I was in England last week (games are really cheap there) and spent the last two days playing it. Once I get my XBL membership updated I will have something to do until FarCry2/Fable2/Fallout3/Spore/Brutal Legend release this year.

Also got Fallout 2 and FFVI recently and quite liked both, have been trying to find Fable for the xbox for a while (can't bother with microsoft points).

Nice, Russ. What I like about this list (I generally dislike lists) is that there's actually a sort of aesthetic summer feel to each of these games. Swashbuckling adventure, twisted summer camp, whimsical fantasy.

I'm sure there are a ton of other worthy suggestions, but I'd throw in Neverhood if you can track down a copy of it. Something sunny about that game, too. And it's hard to go wrong with clay.