Happy Christmas Everyone

This will probably be my last post of 2007 so I'd like to wish all the many readers of this fine Blog (you know who your are) a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year packed with gaming goodness.

The "Complete" List - 2007 total.

Canis Canem Edit
Splinter Cell: Double Agent
Prey
Crackdown
Tiger Woods PGA 07 (career completed)
Call of Duty 2 (regular)
Double Dragon
Resistance: Fall of Man
Loco Roco (All Stages Cleared)
Colin McRae DiRT (Career completed)
Daxter
Forza Motorsport 2 (Career & Arcade 100% complete)
Medal of Honour: Airbourne (Casual)
Halo 3
Bioshock
PGR4 (World No. 1 Career & All medals silver Arcade)
Half Life 2
Episode One and Two
Call of Duty 4 (Normal)
Uncharted: Drakes Fortune (Easy)

Finished this yesterday although I'm rather embarassed to say my girlfriend finished it first and on Normal so she's better than me.

It's an enjoyable game. For me it could have done with a few more puzzles and maybe a bit more platforming and a bit less shooting but it's a great game.

Review of the Year - Part 2

The second part of my review of the year is probably the most important. It's the album of the year. I'm doing them in top five, reverse order, to fit in with part one but readers should be aware that there isn't much difference between position 4 to 1.

5. Kanye West - Graduation

There seemed to be some dissappointment surrounding Kanye's third album. Not as far as I'm concerned. What it lacks in out right killer singles it makes up for by being a more concise body of work free of skits, filler and that other common hip hop problem of quantity of quality. It's got a darker more synth based feel, less reliant on the samples of old, and some of the rhymes are a little ropey but he's still the most exciting talent in commercial hip hop by some margin.

4. Kings of Leon - Because the Times

The single 'On Call' was the first song of Kings that I really loved so I wasn't sure what to expect from the album. It's as lean, snake hipped and down right rocking as the Caleb brothers themselves. The first track is an epic opener and it's pretty much foot to the floor all the way to the end. Rock doesn't get much more exciting.

3. Stephen Fretwell - Man on the Roof

In a sea of male singer songwriters awash with averageness (stand up Blunt, Morrison and Faulkener) Fretwell should be massive. Probably my most listened to album of the year. The kind of record you want to put on as soon as it's finished. Thoroughly recommended.

2. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible

Was so nearly my album of the year and the would of gotten away for it if it wasn't for those darn meddling kids...

1. Arctic Monkeys - Worst Favourite Nightmare

Probably the best british rock album since Definetly Maybe. Anyone of 10 tracks out of 11 could probably of been a single. The songs are packed with ideas, tunes and great lyrics. It also get's better and better as it goes along. Loved it.

Currently Playing : Quick Round Up.

A quick update on the games I have on the go at the minute.

Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction

I'm basically at the last boss and it just needs polishing off and adding to the list.. Probably followed by another play through trying to hoover up all the gold bots and plan pieces.

Uncharted: Drakes Fortune

Hit the last level (22 for those that want to know) only to find it's bastarding hard as nails even on easy and lacks a decent checkpoint.. Put to one side for the moment.

Assassin's Creed

I've done 7 of the nine assasinations and about 3/4 of the side quests.. It's a very frustrating game to play. Compounded by the 8th assassination being based in the harbour. Which has a number of walkways, some boats and some poles sticking out of the water. One wrong move and you're in the drink. Guess what? Altair can't swim. Very annoying. I'll probably try and battle through to the end having spent as much time as I have already on it.. But it's not fun.

Super Mario Galaxy

I now need 19 stars to provide enough power to get to the centre of the universe (or some such). It's like the Anti-sassin Creed. Can't say I'm putting in massive sessions a la the EDGE fan boys but it's fun to switch on, collect a couple of stars, and switch off again.

Purchase Power

God bless the Play monster sale. I've ordered Overlord and Sega Rally for £18 each.

I had my eye on Sega Rally prior to launch but found myself all driven out with DiRT, PGR4 and Forza 2, but at that price it's got to be bought. Besides I'm all up for some driving action again now. I nearly bought it from my local HMV the other day for £28 off the shelf but figured it'd hit the online sales soon enough.

Overlord is more of an impulse purchase.

Why do my hands sweat so much...

... when playing my Wii.. I should point out that I'm not a particularly sweaty person. I'm fair skinned and I'm only playing Super Mario Galaxy so it's not like I'm putting huge amounts of effort in either.. And yet half an hour or so in my hands are sweating like nobodys business. It's made the shiny surface of the Wii-mote and nunchuck rather mucky too.. I don't get this problem with my other consoles..

On the subject of SMG nice to see EDGE print 3 fanboy letters regarding it in this months issue (184) all pretty much raving about how it's re-ignited their love of gaming. I mean obviously I expected it to clean up at the awards (funny how it even wins best audio the day after I complain I can't turn it off) . Not sure what's meant by 'rim lighting' either. My favourite letter is the one where the guy compliments it on the cartoon style trees.. Apparently realisticly rendered trees are just getting in the way of good gaming..

After the EDGE message board went mental after lasts months PS3 cover story (mainly suspecting bungs or pro PS3 bias from EDGE) it'll be interesting to see if anything is said about this months Ninty love in. I'm not holding my breath

Review of the Year - part 1

And so the time has come where we traditionally look back on the year. 2007 has been a very solid year for games. I've had plenty to get stuck into and really it's been the year of the 360 for me. While it's still no where near breaking into the mainstream market (to my way of thinking anyway) the steady stream of excellent driving and FPS's has been a gamers wet dream. Well perhaps not quite that exciting but not far off.. It's not had it all it's own way though as the PS3 has finally had some games to smile about.

So in reverse order here are my highlights.

5. Ratchet & Clank : Tools of Destruction

Far and away my favourite PS3 game of the year. It's always nice when something comes out of nowhere to provide one of the most flat out entertaining experiences of the year. It doesn't do anything particularly new but it's been polished until it shines both graphically and more importantly gameplay wise as well. A must have PS3 game.

4. PGR 4

Probably the game PGR3 should've been. For me neither of the 360s efforts have captured the multiplayer magic of the second game on X-Box but as a single player driving experience it's hard to beat. A great selection of cars and tracks and an awful lot less dry than Forza 2. Combine a great career mode with a fun arcade mode and many happy hours where spent on this in '07

3. Super Mario Galaxy

My first (And still only) experience of Wii delights from the first wave of teh Wii-mote. Yes there's an annoying ice level, Nintendo still insist on giving you 'lives' in this day and age, you still can't turn the music off and it's very annoying to have to press teh 'A' button about 30 times per conversation... but somehow none of it matters. The thrill of navagating the worlds and collecting star bits helped by a fantastic in game camera makes for a joyful experience.

2. Bioshock

Notably the only new IP to make my top 5 Bioshock submerges (haha) you in it's world right from the off. Exploring Rapture and gleaning details about the world you're in is every bit as much fun as shooting and using your plasmid abilities.. Some may say that it didn't fulfil it's early potential but that's rather to miss the point of what it does achieve. Great characters, Great enviroments, A involving plot that doesn't lead you by the nose and some solid gameplay.

1. The Orange Box

It was going to take a lot to better Bioshock this year and it's not just the generosity of this package from Valve that means it takes the top spot. I haven't tried Team Fortress yet (there's been a lot of stuff to play and this year has seen multiplayer gaming take a back seat for me) but from the surreal voice over of Portal to the cliff hanging ending of Episode Two there isn't a duff moment in the Box.

Currently Playing : Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

I've put a bit more time into this than I normally would before posting my first impressions purely because I so wanted it to be good. It's not like me to get carried away I know.. But better safe than sorry.

Technically it's a very accomplished looking game for PS3 and proof again that whilst it may not be easy to programme for there's very little excuse for shoddy PS3 games apart from lazy developers. There's some great graphical touches such as Drake's outfit drying in real time and the foliage and fauna is very pretty.

The acutal game itself is pretty much a mix of Gears of War style duck and cover combat and the recent Tomb Raider adventuring. There's not much in the way of puzzles and if your stuck for too long hints pop up on screen steering you on the way. I wasn't a huge fan of the combat at first, especially seeing as I think the amount of ammo you can carry at anyone time is a bit on the tight side, but after a bit of practice it turns out to be quite good fun. All sorts of weapons are left lying around but you can only carry one pistol and one rifle size weapon at a time. This leads to lot of scavangeing on the fly as the bad guys pile in a t quite a rate of knots. The grenade launcher has become a particular favourite of mine.

The exploring is reasonable fun and fluid. I've just reached level 10 and so far the various levels have been varied and good looking. At first I was a little dissappointed with the game. Possibly because my expectations where so high... But it's winning me over. Certainly the plot, whilst hokey, is enough to drive me on and has plenty of Naughty Dogs humour sprinkled about. So perhaps not a classic but certainly a worth while purchase.

Purchase Power

Being very unlikely to get any game based action for Christmas I thought it was fairly safe to rush out and buy Uncharted: Drake's Fortune today.

Despite trecking all round town though I couldn't find it a penny under £44.99. I have great faith in Naughty Dog. We could be seeing the beginning of a golden age of PS3 gaming.

Crowded House - Brighton Centre.

It's been a long time since Crowded House split. In that time Neil Finn has released a couple of solo albums and one with his older brother Tim. All three have been competent but none have quite had the magic of his work with the band. Sadly Paul Hester, the original drummer, commited suicide a couple of years ago. Although he'd already left the band before they split the first time.

Either way you look at it there has been a lot of water under the bridge since I last saw Crowded House live on their Together Alone tour. There's also an album of slightly dissappointing new material to go along with the reformation.

However when the lights go down and the band kick in to 'Private Universe' it's clear that there's plenty of enthusiasm for being back together and there's plenty of sparky banter between Neil and bassist Nick Seymour just like in the old days. There's little in the way of gimmick. Neil is amongst the finest song writers of his generation and on stage there's plenty of punch and power that really allow the songs to shine.

It's a good set list with a smattering of new material in amongst the hits and even a few rarerties and album tracks. The new material sounded better live than on record benefitting from the extra volume and rawness. Personally I'd loved to have heard 'Hole in the River' but otherwise I was very happy with the song selection. Overall it was great gig.

They've recorded several of teh shows and a selection of live albums where available to purchase at the venue. I bought the Glasgow show so I'll let you know what I think.

Currently Playing : Round Up

Another mixed weekend of gaming so another round up of what I've been playing to keep your all informed.

My 360 registered it's 50th day streak of continual play on Friday and it has indeed been a golden few months for M$ next gen hope... However with Assassin's Creed starting to dissappoint and annoy in equal measure now it's had its quietest weekend for a long while registering a big zero in play time for me.. Next stop PH's 360 offering mine advice on how to spend its down time.

The PS3 was the main beneficary of this as Rachet & Clank continues to be an absolute joy to play. It's also a pretty decent length. Reached the last boss last night after a two hour session and I didn't really have the patience for it so I'll try and polish it off tonight. Silent Hill 2 remained untouched this week but that may well change.

And so on the arrival of the Wii.. I set it up on Sunday afternoon. It eventually slotted in beside my Amp under the telly in it's up right position. The Sensor bar went on top of the Bravia and it's silver and black construction is an almost perfect match.

Having picked up Super Mario Galaxy I decided to try that first and leave the bundled Wii Sports for another day. I should also say that despite PH's recommendation of picking up a composite lead has been ignored for the moment. I'm using the bundled A/V connection as the only spare slot on the back of my TV is Scart one and so for convenience that'll do for now.

First impressions of the game where indeed favourable compared to my only other 3d Mario comparison SM Sunshine, Shaking the Remote to attack and smash is ok but so far I'm not finding it easy to move mario and pick up the starbits with remote. It does show a lot of promise though. I particularly enjoyed one level which was a glass cylinder with several floors.. the twist being that depending on the arrows on the core/wall the ceiling became the floor and vice versa. Very inventive. I reached the first bee level and had to call it a night. So far a cautious thumbs up for both game and Wii.