Nothing Trumps Blogging

Nothing trumps blogging, but some nights I will occasionally hear the call of other pursuits. Earlier this week for example, I finally caved and treated myself to Marvel Ultimate Alliance. I had discovered some Blockbuster gift cards one of my aunts had given me for Christmas back in 2005. I had no idea if I had ever used them. I hadn't, and after a day off on Tuesday, shopping for my dad's upcoming birthday, I got myself a little something.

I couldn't wait to play, but still had to process and post my convention photos. Six hours later, just after midnight, I settled in to the living room to try out my new vice. As the opening movie played and heroes gathered to stave off the forces of evil, I basked in my geekiness. It was a beautiful moment, and as a still of Wolverine appeared, the word “loading” flickered at the bottom of the screen.

After a few minutes, nothing happened.

I restarted the game, got as far as that load screen, and encountered the same freeze. A previously owned disc is not without certain risks. I examined it, and carefully cleaned off any fingerprints and marks by wiping it with a damp cloth out from the center. There were some scratches, but they seemed harmless enough. I popped the game back in, and made it to the Wolverine screen once more.

After a few minutes, nothing happened.

To make a long story short, on Wednesday I returned to the store where they exchanged it without question, not even looking at my receipt. I imagine it's a fairly common occurrence. I got home, had an hour to kill before Lost, and though I had two Netflix movies waiting for me and was falling behind schedule in Dragonfable, checking my replacement game was the priority among elevated trivialities.

This time I got past the load screen and controlled a team of four heroes defending a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier against a horde of robots sent by Doctor Doom. Gameplay was very similar to the X-men Legends series, and I quickly caught on. A double jump had Spider-man swinging across the screen. Holding down the attack button while moving the directional joystick allowed Captain America to actually direct where his mighty shield flew, taking down crowds of foes in a chain reaction. I was in heaven, switching between the heroes of my childhood. When Lost started, I kept playing on intermissions, and for another hour beyond that until I finished the first level and defeated Fin Fang Foom, and at least five other major supervillains along the way.

The game is no joke. As you progress, your characters powers and abilities improve. Even more exciting, you unlock other costumes along the way which change your abilities. I now have Spider-man clad in his black symbiote costume, which increases the damage of his web attacks. It was very hard to turn the game off on Wednesday, and when I sat down to write, I got distracted by an even simpler game that devoured a few more hours of my life before I regained focus.

I couldn't wait to play again on Thursday, but concentrated on things I had neglected in the days prior. There was even an unexpected surprise, the encore presentation of The Black Donnellys which I had missed the first time around. It was amazing and I'm afraid there's another new show in my week. I don't know how I'm going to do it. If I ever get a life, I may need to invent a time machine.

Well, nothing trumps blogging, and now that I've accomplished that, I can finally lose myself in the Marvel Universe once more...Excelcior!