Steampunk games!

This being National Novel(a) Writing Month, I am writing a steampunk adventure story. Naturally that means I am spending an inordinate amount of time playing video games (as well as looking at airship videos on youtube, reading comics, looking at old photos and other "research"). So I thought it would be time well spent to write about a couple of steampunk games. One of them actually inspires me a great deal when I write my book (it's about flying, you see, among other things) and that is Skygunner for the PS2. Just the opening video for this game makes you feel like you are actually flying! It's just a beautiful game. The story is fair, and the cutscenes are a little flat, but it has wonderful, lovely airships, nice lighting, and very pretty dogfighting. Speaking of dogfighting, this game has a really nice feel to it. Now I am horrible at dogfighting games. This one has a simplified system that some die-hard flying game fans might find boring, but you can also choose a harder, more technical setup. The game has 3 characters with 3 levels of difficulty, and other characters are unlockable. (Actually the 3rd character must be unlocked, but you just have to beat the game with either character and you can play him) It starts out easy and rapidly becomes more difficult, keeping you on your toes. I am still trying to unlock my favorite character, but he's impossible! A nice touch for this game is you can choose English or Japanese.

The other steampunk game I like is Steambot Chronicle, also for PS2. It takes place at the dawn of the electric age, and it is a sandbox style game. It has a pretty good plot, with various endings and such, and you can run around and do all kinds of stuff and customize your robot. I spend a LOT of time painting my robot and putting an umbrella on top and taking the girl characters on picnics. It's also very pretty, particularly the lighting for certain times of day. Just a word of warning, you cannot pick the language on this game - there is only English or Off. Choose Off, because the dub causes internal bleeding and brain damage. It will make you embarrassed to be playing this game, even when no one is there. There is a sequel that looks soooo pretty, but I don't know if it's coming out here. . . .