It occurred to me that today's comic might be too specific to the new Zelda to post before the actual release, but then it occurred to me that that's how it works in practically every game. The money you find just laying around has to belong to somebody, even if you don't care who, and it's always in some fanciful pot or buried in some guy's lawn. It's been said that I am all about the rupees, and it's a charge I don't deny. My mind is constantly dominated by thoughts of their acquisition and expenditure.

Zelda every day, Battlefield every night. As good as this arrangement was, apparently it wasn't enough - I grabbed Raven Shield on Wednesday, and I don't regret it.

I wish I knew more about the other games in the series, so I could tell you if they finally improved the accuracy on the MP5SD5 or whatever, but I'm not that guy. All my counter-terror experience comes by way of de_dust, so this pace is quite a change for me. I have been playing the multiplayer and single player tests as they've come out, and I've enjoyed them, but I do not know that there is anything that could have prepared me for what happened in that cafe last night. The flashbang hit the pane over the door and went through, the blast covering me with glass outside the window - when Lieutenant Monkey and I burst in, two of them were still rubbing their eyes. My frag in the other window had apparently blown the back door into match sticks, and a stream of terrorists and poor English issued from that direction. After clearing that room, I covered the door while the Lieutenant produced a heartbeat sensor, scanning both floors for opposition. There was one close, actually, just to the right inside the door. I opened it a crack (pretty easy to do in this game, you use the wheel), lobbed in another flash, and shut the door. After hearing its report, we burst in the door and did our work, only to fall to a heavy machine gun in another corner. We have played this map, the same map, about thirty times now and we're still not sick of it.

The Artificial Intelligence is alright, sometimes crafty, sometimes inane. But even if an idiot shoots you with a Desert Eagle, you stay shot, you know? As I mentioned, I have this game (like I have Ghost Recon) almost explicitly for the cooperative multiplayer, which means that I don't actually know how the story progresses and I've never so much as seen the "Planning" screen, where you can set waypoints for teams and whatnot. So while I commend them on including a mode where co-op grooves may be gotten on, and I will gladly commit myself to it, the illusion is far from complete. Indeed, when setting up multiplayer games I don't even know what order the missions go in, because it doesn't say. I'm going to dig around in the manual and play more today, see if maybe there are ways to set waypoints in-line for your fellow operatives or something, which would at least be a start.

Last E3, I had an appointment to see a game called "Devastation" that had interesting technology and solid level design - even if the booth was situated in Kentia Hall, where games go to die. When one of the guys I know there asked if we'd advertise it, I didn't turn him down - and not just out of avarice. There's a demo out now I haven't had a chance to grab, though that's probably something I'll do today.

Cat Update: name has been changed from "The Great Catsby" to "Caterina DeWitt." Please note this for your records.

(CW)TB out.

you are lost and gone forever