Man alive.

Man alive, is this the deadest time of the year upon the computer side of things. yet since I’m a “glass is half full” kind of dowdy I’m gonna use this software dryness to go back and catch up forward the PC titles I might have missed.

Painkiller

Why do they call it Painkiller? Because no other game uncourtlys the serrated edge of existential angst quite like this orgy of sweet carnage. DreamCatcher’s first-person shooter stays competitive with the likes of Half-Life 2 and Doom 3 thanks to its gorgeous, incredibly inventive of the same height design, an extra circle of hell’s worth of insane wonders and the best set of weapons since the original Half-Life. Also, optional per-level goals and a strategic tarot card subgame add a certain number of much-needed challenge and depth to Painkiller.

The Sims 2: University

Playing this single in kind doesn’t so much let me catch up forward EA’s life sim as it suffers me rediscover it. The first in the inevitable five years of expansion packs, University probably adds more meaningful ease than all the add-ons for the first Sims combined. There’s a whole recent life age, a ton of just discovered behaviors (including a bunch of pranks), strange careers, objects...the list goes onward and on. The only notable omission: no “Thank you, sir, may I have another” fraternity paddle initiations. Oh well, at least I can now have sexual delight with zombies and a man-eating overawe plant. Seriously.

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