Three Cups of Tea

Three Cups of Tea is not the kind of book that I normally read. Normally, I read fiction: science fiction and fantasy being my top two genres. One day, I saw this book lying around and decided that I would read the first few pages. Those pages hooked me, and I started reading a little each night until I had read it all.

This book did a few things for me, beyond entertainment:

1. It helped me to have a more unbiased opinion of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the Muslim faith. I don't think of myself as someone who is prejudices or a bigot, and I tend to be accepting of other people, faiths, and cultures, but this helped to dispel some of the propaganda put out by the American media. This book showed me that there are good and bad Muslims, just as there are good and bad Christians, Buddhists, etc. 
2. It helped me to realize that the best way to combat terrorism and extremism is through a balanced, non-extremist education. I would really like to help to fund the Central Asia Institute if I ever have enough money to do more than just provide for my family's needs.
3. It made me want to be a more charitable person, working for causes beyond my own immediate needs and wants.

In short, I can highly recommend this book. It details the journey of a flawed man doing extraordinary things for some of the most needy people in the world, without much thought for his own safety or well-being. It is interesting and motivating. Pick it up today.

Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons

Game Title: Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons

Platform(s): PC

Stars (out of 5): 4.5

Content issues: There is no inappropriate language in this game (or any intelligible language at all). The characters speak some sort of gibberish which is meant to convey a general idea, but does not map to any real world language that I know of. There is a small amount of violence towards the end of the game, but the game itself is not intended to be violent or gory as you will find in some first person shooter games. The game does deal with some heavy themes, however, so may not be appropriate for small children. I would think that anyone in the 12+ range would be old enough to handle this game.

Brief Summary: Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons is a visually gorgeous and thematically rich game. It is about two brothers who leave their home to find a way to save their father who is seriously ill. There are many delightful surprises along the way, as well as some sad turn of events.

Like: The art in this game is a joy to behold. It is almost as if you were playing inside of a beautiful painting. I love the story, its deep, poignant, and impactful themes, twists, and turns. The control system is also novel. You control both brothers simultaneously using a trigger and a thumbstick for each one. I have never played a game with this kind of a control scheme. I feel like the length of the game was good. I have lately been drawn towards games that have a certain number of hours of gameplay and a clear end, because I find it hard to move on from a game that doesn't have a clear ending (Skyrim, Fallout, Minecraft, etc.). Although I love these games as well, I am pleased with games that end, due to the sense of accomplishment that comes from completion, as well as a satisfying end to a story, and so that I can move on to the next experience.

Dislike: Sometimes, the twists and turns in the story are a bit slow in coming. Even amidst the beautiful scenery the game can sometimes feel a bit dull. The story is worth the wait, so keep playing through those dull portions of the game. The novel control scheme is interesting, but somewhat difficult. One example of this is that when you are climbing up vines, you have to keep both triggers pressed the entire time, and fingers actually get tired while playing this game, even for if it's only for short play sessions. It is also disorienting at times to control two characters at once. I found myself trying to keep the older brother on the left of the younger brother so that I would remember which brother was controlled with which thumbstick.

Replayability: It is a beautiful game and a story worth revisiting, but one that wouldn't be worth revisiting until sufficient time has passed to allow the experience to be nostalgic or new, without being a replay of a clearly remembered story.

Beautiful scenery and interesting characters.

Fun puzzles which involve the brothers working together.

Ace of Spades

Game Title: Ace of Spades

Platform(s): PC

Stars (out of 5): 3.5

Content issues: It's a shooting game, but is not bloody or gory and doesn't feel violent either.

Brief Summary: It has a blocky aesthetic similar to Minecraft, but it is a competitive shooting game rather than an exploration and building game.

Like: The different game modes are very fun. The ability to destroy the blocks in the world is a really great addition to the gameplay. Building things with blocks feels difficult and clunky to me, so I don't do that as often. The best part about this game though is playing it with friends and the really special moments that arise naturally from the gameplay. For example, I was playing with my brother-in-law and we decided to attack the enemy by mining out the foundation of their base. When we removed the last block from the foundation, the entire building came crashing down. It was a supremely enjoyable moment.

Dislike: Sometimes it is hard to find a match with enough players in it for it to be fun. That is a typical challenge with a game like this. Unless the game is massively popular, there may not be enough active players to make the game worth playing.

Replayability: This game does not have a single-player mode, and is therefore intended to be infinitely replayable. It is enjoyable and fun and the game modes take quite a while to get boring, so I would say that the replayability level is high, but perhaps not infinite.

How would I make it better: If I had made this game I would have made it a persistent would like Minecraft, where players can build forts and whatever else they want, and then they can attack whenever they want and the game just goes on and on. Not match based. 

Adam's Venture. Episode I: The Search for the Lost Garden

Game Title: Adam's Venture. Episode I: The Search for the Lost Garden

Platform(s): PC

Stars (out of 5): 2.5 - 3.0

Content issues: No offensive material. It even has a biblical theme.

Brief Summary: Adam's Venture is basically a poor man's version of Indiana Jones or Uncharted. Adam is searching for The Garden of Eden and must solve a number of puzzles in the process.

Like: The puzzles are interesting and challenging enough to make them interesting. Unfortunately, there is a lot of repetition with the puzzles, and some are timing dependent, which is not good for this game.I enjoyed the background music as well.

Dislike: This game is not horrible, but it is also not good. The short explanation of the problem is that it lacks polish. It's more than that though. The game has some of the worst controls that I have ever used in a video game. You never know exactly which direction Adam will move in when a particular key is pressed unless you go ahead an press that key. Jumping is atrocious and you will often find Adam rebounding off of things that he can actually jump onto if you try hard enough. The character models are sub-par, the voice acting is cheesy, and there are really only a small number of puzzles which get repeated over and over with slight variations.

Replayability: I may end up removing this criterion from my reviews, because it is very subjective and what replayability is, is up for debate (plus, it's not even in the dictionary). This game has extremely low replayability. Frankly, it was kind of hard to get through the first time and the annoyances, repetitious puzzles, and low quality of the game make it not worth revisiting.

Shelter

Game Title: Shelter

Platform(s): PC

Stars (out of 5): 4

Content issues: Nothing here that would be offensive to anyone above the age of 10. Little kids may cry.

Brief Summary: Shelter is a story about a badger mother trying to protect and feed her five badger babies.

Like: This is one of those rare games that you want to talk about. It is original and thought provoking, and it's something you will want to tell your friends about. I also really like the art style, although it is low poly-count. It is beautiful, original, moody, and satisfying. I enjoy the badger animations, gathering food, and hunting frogs and other small critters. Most of all, I love the story itself and how the developers have told the story in such a minimal way.

Dislike: The story doesn't lend itself to a lot of action, so this game requires more patient enjoyment than most. It isn't a high-octane, fast-moving game with explosions and lots of action, but that can also be part of its charm. The game also is kind of confusing initially, but I was able to figure it out, and I bet you will be able to as well. Sometimes not knowing what the point of the game is can be hard as well, but you really just have to play to the end, and all will become clear.

Replayability: Low. This game is the kind of game that you can't really tell your friends about in too much detail, or they won't want/need to play the game. Spoilers would really ruin this game. Maybe once in a long while it could be replayed.

Gunpoint

Game Title: Gunpoint

Platform(s): PC

Stars (out of 5): 4.5

Content issues: There is no spoken dialogue, but there is a lot of written dialogue and it is riddled with the "F"-word. In addition, the game allows you to shoot people or to kill them by causing them to fall from a long distance, and there is some blood involved. Probably the worst part of this game is just the theme. You are a gun for hire (whether you choose to use your gun or not) and you are dealing with some shady folks. Compared with a lot of games out there, this one is rather tame, but you should consider the content described above before deciding to play it.

Brief Summary: Gunpoint is the journey of one man to clear his name of a crime he did not commit all while using a variety of high tech gadgets to be a combination hacker, spy, and assassin.

Like: Three things: 1. The art style is really cool. It would have been cool if there was a little bit more animation (such as having the train actually move in the background), but I loved it nonetheless. 2. The story was engaging and playing as a gun for hire was interesting. 3. The best part about this game is the mechanics. All of the cool abilities that you have are really fun and rewiring the levels to complete each one is fun and makes you feel smart and creative. My hat goes off to the developer of this game. I should also say that this game was almost entirely built by a single person, which makes it that much more impressive.

Dislike: Other than the content issues, I really don't have a lot to complain about. Sometimes I forgot which upgrades I had (after a hiatus from play) and it would be nice if there were some additional contextual reminders (there are some already). I occasionally saw a glitch or two in the animations, but for the most part the game was very solid.

Replayability: Moderate. The game is not randomly generated, but most of the levels can be solved in different ways and the story can also be approached differently. You can choose different answers in the dialogues and you can choose the order of the contracts that you accept. You could probably enjoy playing this once a year, unless you have an insanely good memory.

Batman: Arkham Asylum GOTY Edition

Game Title: Batman: Arkham Asylum

Platform(s): PC

Stars (out of 5): 4.5

Content issues: This game has a fair amount of brawling, but it isn't bloody. The most offensive parts of the game for me were the revealing attire of Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy. They were inappropriately dressed and sexualized.

Brief Summary: Batman: Arkham Asylum pits the player as the hero Batman against lots of prison inmates and some of the most famous antagonists from the Batman universe. The player will battle Joker, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, and more.

Like: The pacing of the game is nearly perfect. It has just the right blend of detective work, brawling, and awesome, innovative platforming. The animations are superb and I love all of the cool gadgets that you get to use as Batman. The game's support for 3D is very good and I really felt immersed in the game when I played it in 3D.

Dislike: There were one or two places in the game where the normally superb pacing was off a bit. Also, I disliked the inappropriately dressed women in the game.

Replayability: There are lots of extras in the GOTY edition. I usually stick to the main campaign in the games I play, but there is a lot more to do for those who want to stay in Arkham Asylum.

Arkham Mansion

The Botanical Gardens were really cool.