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The "Complete" List 2010

2011-01-05T09:50:00.001-08:00

Left 4 Dead 2 - (All Campaigns)
Mass Effect
Lego Rock Band - Story Mode
Darksiders - Easy
BAYONETTA - Easy Automatic
Lego Batman
Call of Duty: Classic - Normal
Fracture - Casual
Dragon Quest: The Hand of the Heavenly Bride
Heavy Rain - Medium
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 - Normal
Yakuza 3 - Easy
Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice for All
Professor Layton and Pandora's Box
Mass Effect 2 - Normal
Peggle: Dual Shot - DS
Splinter Cell: Conviction - Realistic & Co-op - Realistic
Dead Space - Easy - 360
Alan Wake - Normal
Split/Second - Career
Blur - Career/Level 50 Multiplayer
Red Dead Redemption
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle - Sweet
Everybody's Golf 2 - PSP
The Saboteur - 360
Dark Void - 360
Limbo
Wolfenstein - Easy - 360
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 - 360
GTA IV - Episodes from Liberty CIty - 360
Halo: Reach - Normal (Solo) / Legendary (Co-op)
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands - 360
Mafia II - 360
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West - 360
Professor Layton & The Lost Future
Sly Raccoon - Platinum Trophy
Call of Duty: Black Ops - Normal - 360

So there we go. Another year done with what I think is a record total for me of 37. On average 3 a month which isn't bad going.

Sly Cooper I really enjoyed. The first game on the remastered Sly Trilogy is a 3D PS2 era platform game that I'd never gotten around too. The Cel shaded graphics buffed for HD look rather good. I had some initial difficulty setting the game up because I always set the camera to inverse but in this case that was actually referring to the horizontal camera as there is no vertical camera. Setting that back to standard the game then lets you set any other actions that might require movement on the Y axis to inverse so there weren't any further hiccups.

The game is very solid. Reasonable plot. A nice selection of levels that stay far away from the usual platform cliches. The controls are great. The stealth sections (obviously Sly is a thief although he is trying to steal back his own families property so I guess that makes it ok) are very well handled with clear indications as to when you can use a stealth moves and when you'll be spotted.

Another nice touch is that the game scales a little for difficulty. Retry a section too many times and you'll get a silver lucky horseshoe that'll let you carry on without losing a life or being sent back to a checkpoint, die to many times and you'll get a bonus extra life. Retry again and you'll get a gold lucky horseshoe that lets you carry on twice.

There's also a nice selection of mini games that break up the platforming action and absolutely no hub worlds too dilute from it either. In fact I ended up liking it so much I went back through a couple of levels to find all the collectables to unlock the special moves and earn all the trophies including my first Platinum.

Call of Duty:Black Ops is very much modern *ahem* warfare by numbers. There's a lot of hand holding, A lot of things that make you feel like you're doing a lot of stuff but actually boil down to very simple button presses and there's some great firefights. The plot sends you back on forth through cold war eras and there's quite a nice mix between on the fly under cover type stuff and the more familiar warfare.. It just about does enough to be enjoyable.

The Mulitplayer on CoD I've never really gotten into but this I really enjoyed, so much so that I ranked up 38 levels during a four day stint over my christmas holiday. It's a got a nice selection of maps and with the new CoD points with which you unlock guns and perks a much clearer (To my mind anyway) upgrade path. Most importantly Killstreak kills don't count towards further Killstreaks so things generally feel much fairer. Overall a generous package when you count in the Cod Arcade and Zombie mode.

The "Complete" List

2010-12-08T16:38:00.000-08:00

Comment

2010-11-16T13:03:00.000-08:00

In my world you're only good as you're last sale. In American TV you're only as good as you're last episodes ratings.. In games it's not much different. Still it's a sad day when Bizarre Creations are canned after lacklustre sales and reviewer reception of James Bond: Bloodstone

Of course the writing was kind of on the wall when Blur bombed at retail despite me having a lot of love for it.

It's difficult to pin down where it all went wrong. Leaving Microsoft? Diminishing returns with the Project Gotham franchise.. Or was it even The Club?

Personally I despair a little for my fellow gamers when Activision can have the biggest opening day of sales with Call of Duty: Black Ops and yet people wont buy something as intensely good online as Blur.

Of course as Michael Jackson once sang I should probably start with the man in the mirror. I had sworn to buy James Bond:Bloodstone to support my favourite developer but a combination of New Vegas and poor length of the campaign put me off.. so I guess I should've supported them. I did buy Blur on launch and it's still my go to game for some knock about online fun.

A sad day,

Purchase Power: Quarter IV 2010

2010-11-15T08:09:00.000-08:00

A combination of a huge amount of time being spent on Fallout: New Vegas (over 40 hours so far fact fans) and perhaps one or two big titles being out slightly earlier than normal has meant that there hasn't been such a glut of huge games coming out this time of year as normal.

Having said that we are starring down the barrel of the christmas now. I've decided to give CoD: Black Ops a miss for the moment. I don't enjoy the multiplayer component of it so much and so for that reason I'll see if it gets any cheaper. Fable III is also going to have to wait a bit. I'll definitely pick it up at some point but again it'll need to be cheaper.

So where does that leave us? Gran Turismo 5 will finally launch this month after the mammoth wait and seeing as my PS3 only gets used for these kind of genuinely exciting PS3 exclusives I expect I'll be picking it up.

Otherwise I've narrowed it down to Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. I really enjoyed the second game and as this is a direct sequel I'm looking forward to more of the same and seeing how the story of Ezio pans out.

That just leaves Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit on pre-order. I have utmost faith in Criterions ability to deliver a fun action packed racer. I'm also intrigued by the Autolog feature that brings to the forefront was has in the past been the secret pleasure of online friends list leaderboards.

Currently Playing: Fallout - New Vegas.

2010-11-02T11:59:00.000-07:00

Fresh from completing Enslaved on Normal difficulty and with a new found wealth of RPG experience I decided to man up and play this on Normal difficulty (rather than the easy mode that I seem to remember completing Fallout 3 on).

Suffice to say it's making for a far more challenging experience. I'm going through stimpacks like water. I've managed to get full on near death radiation sickness twice (Don't think I ever got it bad enough to warrant visiting a doctor in 3.) and weapons and armour break like they're sponsored by Primark.

Part of this might be due to it being simply a more hardcore game not just the difficulty. Also this time I've focused my levelling up on Speech, Lock Picking and Stealth rather than just full on attacking skills as before. I got fed up with not being able to open doors or unlock speech options during the campaign on Fallout 3.

Still despite the game's engine starting to creak a bit these games are all about the atmosphere and in this respect New Vegas delivers in spades. It's nice to be wandering the wastelands again.

The "Complete" List

2010-11-02T11:47:00.000-07:00

The "Complete" List

2010-10-08T02:02:00.000-07:00

Left 4 Dead 2 - (All Campaigns)
Mass Effect
Lego Rock Band - Story Mode
Darksiders - Easy
BAYONETTA - Easy Automatic
Lego Batman
Call of Duty: Classic - Normal
Fracture - Casual
Dragon Quest: The Hand of the Heavenly Bride
Heavy Rain - Medium
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 - Normal
Yakuza 3 - Easy
Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice for All
Professor Layton and Pandora's Box
Mass Effect 2 - Normal
Peggle: Dual Shot - DS
Splinter Cell: Conviction - Realistic & Co-op - Realistic
Dead Space - Easy - 360
Alan Wake - Normal
Split/Second - Career
Blur - Career/Level 50 Multiplayer
Red Dead Redemption
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle - Sweet
Everybody's Golf 2 - PSP
The Saboteur - 360
Dark Void - 360
Limbo
Wolfenstein - Easy - 360
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 - 360
GTA IV - Episodes from Liberty CIty - 360
Halo: Reach - Normal (Solo) / Legendary (Co-op)
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands - 360
Mafia II - 360

First up a double completion for you.

Who'd of thought making a sequel to Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time would be so hard? The two direct sequels lost their way chasing market share and the recent reboot was a tad disappointing too.

So here we have a direct sequel that follows on directly. So no more Nolan North and no more Emo prince either. In fact so hard do Ubisoft try to evoke the feeling of the original game that the presentation and menus are almost identical.

Sadly the game falls some way short. On the plus side the combat is the best ever in a PoP game. Following in the footsteps of Batman:AA hordes of enemies attack at once and you can slash, kick and vault over them with acrobatic ease dealing out death and context sensitive finishing moves. A range of powers can be unlocked but don't add much.

I don't really remember the end of SoT but apparently the Prince must have lost the Dagger that provided his time based powers because here a new amulet allows him to rewind time. It no longer allows him to slow down time though so that particularly pleasing element is gone. In it's place he has the power to freeze and unfreeze water. While this allows for some challenging platforming later in the game it's not quite as good.

What really let's the game down though is the level design. It all looks very nice but there's nothing that's particularly challenging or as huge or multi-teared. You enter a room the camera pans around and it's always fairly obvious where to go. There's nothing that takes the breath away or stumps you for very long. It's very linear. Also gone are the flashbacks that hinted at what needed to be done and where far superior to the camera pan.

Having said that the game is a joy to play. The controls do a reasonable job of making everything work. There's a lot less hand holding than the reboot and you do feel like you're pulling off all the cool moves yourself. At the sametimes it's been streamlined just enough that you can pull off long sections of platforming without having to stop every few moves to readjust the camera (which is also very good most of the time).

Overall I enjoyed it then but it doesn't come anywhere close to scaling the heights of the original.

What can I say about Mafia II. It's certainly better than the 4 it scored at Eurogamer. Hot off the heels of enjoying Season One of The Sopranos I was looking forward to living the life of a Mafioso.

A lot has been said about the lack of side missions, collectables and things to do outside of the main story. Personally I didn't mind the linearity of it. The story is well told with a very high level of presentation maintained throughout the cutscenes and conversations.

The problem is there's only 15 story missions and while the best of them are very good a lot of them are forgettable and dull. There's a bit set in prison where all you do is walk about and have a few fist fights. A missed opportunity. The mission that was in all the previews prelaunch where you have to set a bomb in a hotel posing as window cleaners is a high point but it's also a high water mark. Nothing comes close to scaling it's heights again. Which is shame.

Much like PoP:TFS I enjoyed what was there but felt that it could've been so much more.

DLC round up.

2010-09-28T03:50:00.000-07:00

First up was Quantum Theory on 360. A sort of poor mans Gears of War but with the usual bonkers Japanese slant. I kind of enjoyed it and it's on my 'bargain bin' list despite a terrible review from EDGE

Next up was Enslaved:Odyssy To The West. Frankly I find just the thought of Andy Serkis annoying and I still have bitter memories of Heavenly Sword where initial delight turned into hating the boss battles. Still it's a very odd level to pick for a demo. Basically Chapter One of the full game it does the basics of tutoring you in how to play the game but is completely linear for the first half. When I say linear I mean it's an actual straight passage. Not inspiring. It's not without potential but I failed to see the Uncharted 2 comparison OPM where bandying about.

Regular readers may remember that Top Gun is my favourite film ever so naturally I was excited about the PSN Top Gun game. Especially as the films script writer was on board. While accessing PSN I thought I may as well download my free DLC to Heavy Rain.

This resulted in abysmal service from PSN. My PS3 was switched on for hours over a course of three days as it struggled with the basics of downloading things. It was slow when it was working and then for reasons unknown it would end up waiting.. for what I never found out. Considering the slick, smooth service from XBL on the same internet service I'll never understand it.

As for the results? Top Gun was very underwhelming and I felt a bit ripped off with the Heavy Rain: Chronicles. There are several endings but basically only one real location, not much to do (apart from open empty cupboards) and it really showed up the limitations of the format.

Much better was the half price offer of The Passing. A new campaign level for Left 4 Dead 2. A decent slab of content and of course shot gunning zombies with mates is always entertaining. Having not played the first game meeting the original survivors didn't mean much, and as yet I haven't finished it but it's everything you'd want from DLC, More of what you enjoyed, a decent length and a cut price. Oh and it downloaded the day it started which is always a bonus.

The "Complete" List

2010-09-28T03:39:00.000-07:00

Purchase Power Update

2010-09-28T03:30:00.000-07:00

Here's a bit of a round up of my recent acquisitions.

First up I swapped Wolfenstien for Nier with a member of one of my regular forums. It turned up in very good condition and as I'd only paid £10 for Wolfenstien it was probably a fair trade.

Obviously Halo: Reach was a must. I got it in HMV for £40 with the usual 800 free MS points which seemed the best deal in the choice of two shops here on the day.

I ordered F1 2010 from shopto.net at the bargain price of £32 but apparently they now only give free recorded delivery with pre-orders (Which is the only way to guarantee that something will arrive next day here and even then it's not foolproof) so I paid £6 for next day courier delivery. It arrived on the thursday and was still £2 than in the shops here. Not a bargain for sure but I was very excited about getting it.

I found Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands brand new for £12 in HMV and that seemed like a must have. It's obviously been heavily discounted fairly quickly as there was a succession of reduction stickers underneath the latest offer.

The "Complete" List

2010-09-15T10:47:00.001-07:00

The "Complete" List

2010-08-29T09:06:00.000-07:00

Not Currently Playing: Kane & Lynch: Dead Men

2010-08-25T12:17:00.000-07:00

It happens fairly regularly in this hobby of ours. You've been watching a big title for months, reading previews and such like (I subscribe to OPM and EDGE. Read 360 when ever they feature one of my musings in their magazine and follow a variety of websites on a daily basis) and then the reviews drop and it's inevitably a disappointment.. but there's always the thought in the back of your mind that after all that potential can it really be that bad?

I came across a copy of Kane & Lynch: Dead Men for £3 minus cover and green box but complete with manual and disc so how bad can it really be?

Well the answer has to be fairly bad. It's core shooting mechanic isn't that great. You often feel like you can't shoot guys until the game wants you to even if you've got them plumb in your sights. They hide in cover too with bits sticking out but you can't hit them and then to make matters worse they switch through 180 degrees when you line up a shot. The cover system doesn't work too well and it's just generally frustrating.

To make matters worse you can see the potential the game has. The characters are interesting and about a third of the way in (after a dreadful nightclub mission) it turns into a kind of Michael Mann style caper heist that despite the aforementioned complaints is still enjoyable. Despite the lack of online co-op.

And then? Then it all goes horribly wrong with a mission that makes you wonder whether it was ever play tested. I got so frustrated with it I removed the disc from the machine and snapped it in half and threw it in the bin never to darken my console again. It seemed better than braking anything that cost me more than £3.

The "Complete" List

2010-08-24T01:37:00.000-07:00

The "Complete" LIst

2010-08-11T08:54:00.000-07:00

The "Complete" List

2010-08-10T08:42:00.000-07:00

Currently Playing: SIlent Hill: Homecoming

2010-08-08T12:52:00.000-07:00

Regular readers might remember that I played through Silent Hill 2 and 3 in preparation last year for this. A slew of average reviews and I decided to wait until it was cheap. Spotted it in HMV for £15 and picked it up.

It certainly just as horrifying as it's classic predecessors but perhaps not for all the right reasons. For a kick off there's no option to adjust the camera. Which means if, like me, you like to have the Y axis inverted you're going to spend a lot of time looking at the floor. Secondly there's no autosave. Which means you're back to wandering around looking for saves spots and a large chunk of replaying if you happen to die.

Oh and it's hard. Properly hard. I played the previous games on Easy. There's no easy option here and even on the default difficulty items are scarce on the ground. There's very few health packs and not a lot of ammo. Oh and there's monsters.. lots and lots of monsters.. it's not rare to stumble across five vicious nurses in a pack. Which means a lot of combos and lots of dodging.. which for someone whose timing is as bad as mine means a lot of dying.

I've just had to replay about three hours of game (thankfully a keep five saves on the go but I had to go back to the earliest one to get to a point where I hadn't already wanked away all my health and ammo) because I arrived at a Boss battle with half my health and no health items and no ammo. I'd just played through about an hours worth of game without a pick up in sight.. Oh and then I had to sit through an unskippable conversation before I could have another bash.. Enough for one day.

The "Complete" List

2010-07-31T03:27:00.000-07:00

Unboxing the 360 Slim

2010-07-17T03:50:00.000-07:00

So I got my new X-Box 250Gb Slim home yesterday. To be honest it's still quite a heavy wee beasty in the box. Thanks to the staff at GAME for giving me a bag so big I could've carried the store home!

First thing of note. The box is much nicer to open and closes properly after you've taken everything out. I really hated the stupid flappy design of the last one.

It's actually not that much smaller. The PSU is smaller but probably just as thick. Other than that it looks nice. The shiny black effect isn't quite up to the quality of my original PS3 but it's nice enough.

Having plugged it all in I was able to use the transfer cable to copy all my saves and games across to the new machine from my old 20Gb HDD (Big shout out to Geoff who made this possible!) and it was soon up and running.. One problem here was that the new on off switch is so touch sensitive I managed to turn the 360 off by accident whilst plugging in a USB device (in this case said transfer lead) which could be annoying if you lost game progress whilst trying to plug a second controller in.. but I can't see it cropping up to often.

I was soon up and running and wirelessly connected to my new (Stylishly Black) Netgear Router. I tested Blur and Forza 3 and had absolutely no problems at all. No noticeable lag or lack of performance compared to the wired connection of my old 360.

Talking of which, if you'd asked me yesterday morning, if my old 360 was noisey I'd of said that when I have the TV on at a reasonable volume and my hi-fi playing I can barely hear it. Turns out I'd of been wrong and I'd of just gotten used to the background hum. Even running a game off the DVD drive the new console is spookily quiet.. so quiet in fact that it's a bit un-nerving. I even ended up turning the TV way down. The PS3, even sat idle on the XMB, sounds noisey in comparison and I'd of sworn that ran silently before.

My only other complaint would be that the disc drive tray itself is still a bit cheap although this is offset by the lovely touch sensitive eject button and the wee noise it makes to let you know it's working.

Having ran it all night I noticed that the left hand vent on the console (the side that's next to my Sky+ Box (also black fact fans!) was very cool. Possible cooler than ambient temperature. The vents in the top and the right where running quite hot. I guess that means it's cooling itself very effectively? Although I do worry that the huge vents in the top will let a lot of dust in and that could be a console killer too. Only time will tell.

Overall I'm very happy with the new machine.

The "Complete" List

2010-07-14T03:14:00.000-07:00

The "Complete" List

2010-07-13T07:28:00.000-07:00

The "Complete" List

2010-07-02T02:19:00.000-07:00

Purchase Power

2010-06-29T05:31:00.000-07:00

I was disappointed to read that the Publishers behind No More Heroes weren't going to invest in any more new IPs. Whilst you can see their point when traditional gamers fail to support innovative, adult (I use the word in the loosest sense to indicate child unfriendly) software on the Wii it's still something of a shame when those games have been receiving good reviews. From my point of view these sort of titles seem to head bargain binward very quickly.. presumably cos they're not selling well. It's a chicken and egg situation that I don't pretend to know the answer to.

Anyway I happened to spy a mint pre-owned copy in Game for £20 which (less my £2.50 reward points) seemed to good an opportunity to miss.

I also pre-ordered a new 360 Slim. The main reasons being that my 360's disc drive seems to be playing up and that I'm still using my original 20Gb HDD which is struggling to keep up. I only have 2Gb free and I'd like to be able to install games that I'm playing a lot. Also anything that makes for a bit more room under the TV and runs quietly has got to be good right? I'm going to donate the old one to charity too so it's win win.

The "Complete" List

2010-06-23T03:57:00.000-07:00

Left 4 Dead 2 - (All Campaigns)
Mass Effect
Lego Rock Band - Story Mode
Darksiders - Easy
BAYONETTA - Easy Automatic
Lego Batman
Call of Duty: Classic - Normal
Fracture - Casual
Dragon Quest: The Hand of the Heavenly Bride
Heavy Rain - Medium
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 - Normal
Yakuza 3 - Easy
Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice for All
Professor Layton and Pandora's Box
Mass Effect 2 - Normal
Peggle: Dual Shot - DS
Splinter Cell: Conviction - Realistic & Co-op - Realistic
Dead Space - Easy - 360
Alan Wake - Normal
Split/Second - Career
Blur - Career/Level 50 Multiplayer

This game has sucked up so much of my time that I've not really had time to play much else*. Initially it's a little underwhelming. The career is nothing more than a series of events and boss battles. The game is also quite unforgiving with a fairly steep learning code. No sooner are you trying to juggle racing, learning circuits and juggling the power ups than the game is throwing fan demands, fan runs and each boss has a series of demands before you can face off with them and, I can't type this without cringing, win their ride.

However a bit of practice and patience and it all starts to make sense. There is a lot going on but it's all the more exciting for it. The boss demands not only add variety to the way you race but teach you valuable techniques as well.

It's online however where it really shines. There's a reasonable selection of events to attempt and it adopts the Codemasters style of lobby system where everyone votes on a choice of two courses and then there's a 30 second countdown to pick cars and mods (more of which later) which keeps the action rolling along nicely without being at the mercy of a host keeping you waiting for ages before starting things off.

Where it really scores though is in it's adoption of a Modern Warfare style persistant online XP system. As you level up new cars and mods are unlocked but crucially it's well balanced. You have three mods from a selection of 24 in 3 catergories to help make life easier. These range from better shields to a lazer sight to earning extra fans. None feel over powered and while I settled into a regular set of favourites thert's plenty to choose from to suit you style.

While I found that the better mods helped me win more it's crucially still possible to be competitive right out of the box. It doesn't fall into the trap of the new player getting hammered continuually until they've grinded for hours.

The most vital bit though is that actually winning isn't everything. No race feels like a lost cause and slipping past the car in front with a cheeky power up to leave him in last is almost as exciting as getting on the podium.

I had faith that with Bizarre Creatings online pedigree they'd deliever but they've really stepped up with this. There maybe better driving games released this year (Hello GT5 I still want you) but I doubt there'll be a better sensation of racing.

The "Complete" List.

2010-06-03T11:03:00.000-07:00

Purchase Power

2010-05-27T09:13:00.000-07:00

I somehow managed to forget that I'd pre-ordered this from Shopto.Net so I was somewhat surprised when my phone beeped yesterday with news of it's despatch. A pleasant surprise none the less as I'd already decided not to trade in Split/Second after all.

I was even more surprised when the Isle of Man Post Office actually worked out that signed for next day delivery should actually mean next day and not 'when they can be bothered' and for the first time in living memory I actually have a new game the day before official release.

That it should happen with one of the games I'm most excited about is the kind of serendipty that just doesn't happen to me very often.

Purchase Power

2010-05-21T05:40:00.000-07:00

I got a nice Split/Second: Velocity postcard from GAME through my letter box offering me an extra 1000 reward points if I bought said game from them.. Now their loyalty scheme does seem a bit random with amounts popping up at the checkout with scant regard for what I've been spending in there.. However on arrival at my local branch, having taken a late lunch, they didn't appear to have their stock in once again.

So I went to HMV where I picked up Split/Second: Velocity for £35 and Red Dead Redemption for £40 along with 800 Microsoft Points free (always handy) and a unique code for the Armour Horse.. Overall I thought I'd done quite well for high street purchases.. Especially since there appears to be a lack of supermarket discounting on RRR.

The "Complete" List

2010-05-19T02:14:00.000-07:00

Currently Playing: Split/ Second Demo

2010-05-18T03:28:00.000-07:00

I initally downloaded this for 360 (It's still easier to use X-Box Live.. things download faster and there's no need to install) and was underwhelmed.. It does look amazing but the handling is very simple.. bags of understeer until you tap the brake and then huge amounts of drifting over steer.. It also seemed a bit random as I was in last place with a couple of corners to go on the last lap and then suddenly in first place..

I downloaded the PS3 version and it's (as far as I can tell) technically identical.. However repeated plays of the demo track did start to give me a better feel for it. There's a certain Ridge Racer-ish skill to balancing the drift to get the best line and maintain momentum.

Then it just seemed to click. I think the reason for the simplified driving is so that you can concentrate on the actual race.. Three races in and I was still seeing new parts of the course and experiencing different short cuts and power plays.

There's so much going on that the driving model gives you time to avoid the carnage, concentrate on earning the ability to use your power plays by drifting and drafting and then unleashing them at the best time..

All the reviews suggest a lack of longevity but with Blur around the corner I'll be happy if it gives me a weeks worth of roller coaster thrills and excitement.

Purchase Power

2010-05-18T03:16:00.001-07:00

I had decided that I wasn't going to purchase any more, so called, Limited Editions.. But this Alan Wake one looked like it had had some thought put in to it. Instead of the usual, and annoying to get into, metal tin it comes in a nice hard back book effect (Mr Wake is an author you see) magnetic opening box, contains a lovely hardback box with slip cover that actually seems to be packed with information, the sound track CD and a bonus context disc as well as a nice black DVD box for the game for every day use ensuring that the Limited Edition needs minimal opening and can be stored on my shelf.

I traded in Splinter Cell: Conviction. As Nish mentioned recently the RRP on some games is taking a real pounding at the moment (Even God of War 3 is now available in GAME for £25 which really shocked me) so no doubt I can pick it up later for buttons if the DLC turns out good.

Which brings me nicely on to how packed Mays release schedule has become in what would traditionally be the lead in to the quiet summer months and so I'm looking at working out a purchase schedule in a sort of Q4 type manner.

Prince of Persia: Forgotten Sands and No More Heroes 2:Desperate Struggle are both likely to get heavily discounted and there's only so much time for games now I'm a married man so there on the 'Wait until it's cheap' list.

Alpha Protocol: The Espionage RPG initially sounded promising but has now gone on to the 'Wait for the review' List.

Which leaves Split/Second and Red Dead Redemption as 'Day One' purchase and I'll probably trade Split/Second for Blur the week after as that's my other essential purchase.

The "Complete" List

2010-05-12T14:37:00.000-07:00

The "Complete" List

2010-05-12T11:55:00.000-07:00

The "Complete" List

2010-05-09T10:36:00.000-07:00

Purchase Power

2010-04-30T10:15:00.001-07:00

Well it's that time of year again when I get a bank holiday without the Mrs.. so I'm planning another 24 hour gaming marathon.. Lord only knows that when I turn 40 I'm not going to be able to do it anymore.

Looking back at last years thread I didn't appear to enjoy it an awful lot. All I seem to do is complain about various parts of myself hurting.. I do vaguely remember a euphoric sense of achievement (although that might just be wishful thinking or the Stella I had afterwards) so this time I'm going to try and look on the bright side.

Anyway with that in mind I thought I'd take a trip to game and pick up another batch of cheap games that I've over looked with which to entertain myself. So I picked up...

Dead Space: Extraction - £12.99
Dead Space - £9.99
Mercenaries 2 - £7.98
Virtua Tennis 3 - £4.99

The girl in GAME asked if I was a fan of Dead Space. Of course having not played either yet I'm not yet sure. I did seem to make her day though by pre-ordering the Limited Edition of Alan Wake. The one time she didn't ask me if I wanted to pre-order anything.

You'll be able to keep track of my progress via either Facebook or indeed the above link to the 360 forum.

The "Complete" List

2010-04-27T06:53:00.000-07:00

The "Complete" List

2010-04-27T06:47:00.001-07:00

Currently Playing: Forza 3

2010-04-27T06:40:00.000-07:00

Inspired by Sundays second round of the BTCC I fired up Forza Motorsport 3 for some racing action. I originally completed all the seasons required for the achievements but that did leave a long list of events left for a 100% completion. Maybe for the time too long.

However with a bit of a gap my enthusiasm has returned. I'll now try to complete all the events so I can add it the The "Complete" List in more bite size chunks and I'll try and pick cars that make for tight close racing to keep it enjoyable rather than just steaming away from the pack to complete the events for the sake of it.

Of course it's still getting regular Friday night Live outings with the EDGE forum crew where it continues to provide a rock solid entertaining evening with a couple of beers and some lively chat.

The "Complete" List

2010-04-12T06:25:00.001-07:00

The "Complete" List

2010-04-08T09:20:00.000-07:00

Purchase Power.

2010-04-01T05:32:00.000-07:00

For once I have a happy GAME buying experience. Picked up God of War 3 from the shelf and at the counter was offered a pre-owned, but still shrink wrapped, as new copy for £35. Combined with the, what I thought was very high, £25 for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 in p/x I parted with just £10.

Of course she did have to ask me if I wanted to buy any PSN points and tell me that I could trade it in when done.. but you can't have everything.

The "Complete" List

2010-03-30T14:40:00.000-07:00

Currently Playing: Splinter Cell: Conviction - Demo

2010-03-26T04:47:00.002-07:00

As a long term Splinter Cell fan I'd been worried at the lengthy development time for this reboot so I was interested enough to down load the demo and give it a go.

After a short interrogation bathroom scene (Reminiscent of both 24 and the prologue of Casino Royal) you're into the meat of the demo proper.

Powered by the Unreal engine it's a solid, if not spectacular, looking game. What is very striking is the way Ubisoft have projected all the information you need onto the enviroment. It looks really amazing and so obvious that you wonder why no one (Well at least I can't think of anyone) has done it before.

This new game shows a more action orientated Fisher. More concerned with results than remaining undiscovered. That's not to say being stealthy doesn't pay off. I tried guns blazing and the enemy call for re-inforcements making it tougher to get through. Much better to use an unarmed takedown and then make use of the new mark'n'shoot (or whatever they're calling it) where you can paint up to three targets before popping out of cover and taking them down Bauer style. Very cool.

Colour me impressed.

Currently Playing: Yakuza 3

2010-03-24T04:06:00.000-07:00

My first Yakuza experience doesn't seem to have been held back by not knowing what went on in the previous two. The starting menu does have the option for an over view of the earlier installments but following Eurogamers advice I got stuck straight in. After all 'Reformed Gangster tries to go straight but gets dragged back into the shady underworld' (I'm assuming the later part as I'm still happily running my orphanage in hawian shirt and fetching cream slacks but more on this later.) is as old a story as boy meets girl.

I really shouldn't like it. It's chock full of old school text conversations, Starts off a bit slow and unlike most video game enthusiasts I have no interest in Japan..

However the story really does drag you in.. It goes to show that you don't have to divorce game play from the experience or feature nude shower scenes to have the player bond with the characters or generate emotion. What you need is well written characters and involving situations. David Cage could learn a thing or two here.

Of course orphans are always going to tug the heart strings but there's something strangely compelling about investigating the every day problems of a bunch of small kids mixed in with a large dose of kicking ass and taking names.

As interesting as the main story is though the real depth and enjoyment comes from actually exploring and living the life. I've drunk the best whisky the town has to offer and then spent the afternoon getting in fights because of it. I've taken girls out on dates doing everything from darts to eating out. I've played some golf and soft ball with the kids and enjoyed wandering around just seeing what's to see. It's a very interesting change of pace from western games and I'm appreciating that sometimes the more you put in the more you get out.

Currently Playing: Resident Evil 5

2010-03-14T13:22:00.000-07:00

Picked this up for £17.50 in Game.. The last new non-Gold Edition copy left in the shop.

Fortunately I had a happy real life partner. Less fortunately I got stuck playing as Sheva.. Now I didn't really enjoy the more action orientated Resident Evil 4 on Gamecube but, I think due to the co-op action, this is much more fun.

At first we struggled with the opening section. There's a lot of zombies (I know they're called something else but they'll always be zombies to me) and not much ammo.. but eventually we made it through and after that started making solid progress.

The whole game is obviously designed around the co-op and with a real life partner it ramps up both the excitement and the need to swap ammo and health. Lee was handy with the shotgun and I concentrated on upgrading my pistol.

Overall I enjoyed the graphical spectacle and the solid gameplay.

Purchase Power

2010-03-12T07:07:00.001-08:00

I bought Yakuza 3 from Game for the princely sum of £39.99. I've not played a Yakuza game before but I enjoyed the demo.. However most of what spurred me on to a full price release day purchase was all the rabid fanboys bemoaning SEGA for cutting some features from the original Japanese release.

As far as I can see it's a simple case of economics. The franchise isn't a big seller over here and there's obviously a limit to what can be spent on localisation.. Those boycotting it are surely shooting themselves in the foot when it comes to the fourth part of the saga coming to these shores?

I traded Darksiders as I noticed there where already a large number of second hand copies on the shelves of my local GAME meaning it's value is probably going to plummet. I got £20 for it which I was quite pleased with seeing as they where retailing it for £29.99 a couple of weeks ago.

The "Complete" List.

2010-03-11T07:19:00.000-08:00

Currently Playing: Blur Beta

2010-03-09T04:15:00.000-08:00

I wouldn't normally bother with a Beta. However I managed to grab a code from Eurogamer and I'm a huge fan of Bizarre Creations Project Gotham series. I never thought the online component of the 360 versions matched the, to my mind, peerless PGR2 but this new franchise of battle racing could be worth a look.

The Beta version is a generous slice of content. There's a handful of tracks and about ten cars that can be unlocked as you work your way up the ranks (Capped at 10 for the demo) as well as upto four racing modes for you to try.

Of course being a Beta there's only online racing but as of last night there where plenty of people playing and I didn't have any problem getting a lot of racing action in.

Said action is as solid as you'd expect from BC with hints of PGR in the mix but it's certainly all new. The tracks branch with different routes and, no doubt, short cuts to be found. The handling is perhaps a little understeery for my liking and I miss the feedback when drifting that the escalating Kudos score gave you in PGR. Here you get a score at the end but it's difficult to tell how you've earned it.

Mind you that's the least of your problems once the action commences. The Beta features a rolling start which eases, but doesn't totally do away with the first corner lottery that was always PGR's online calling cards as the other racers seemed to forget they've got brakes and just cause huge pile ups in the first corner. Once you reach the first set of powers ups it almost complete carnage from beginning to end.

That's not to say it's not fun.. Because it is. Eye popping, palm drenching nail biting fun but there's frustration there in equal measure. Presumably once handling the up to three power ups at a time on the fly becomes second nature and courses have been learnt there'll be room for strategic play but at the moment it's a *ahem* blur of lightning strikes, mines, missles and shunts causing absolute mahem. Suffice to say if you're looking for a technical racer look elsewhere.

Overall though a tempting taste of how it could turn out.

The "Complete" List

2010-03-01T01:52:00.000-08:00

Left 4 Dead 2 - (All Campaigns)
Mass Effect
Lego Rock Band - Story Mode
Darksiders - Easy
BAYONETTA - Easy Automatic
Lego Batman
Call of Duty: Classic - Normal
Fracture - Casual
Dragon Quest: The Hand of the Heavenly Bride
Heavy Rain - Medium

Sadly I ended up finishing the game less than impressed (Especially as I got an error code signing me out of PSN which apparently is affecting lots of 'Fat' PS3s across the country and causing some kind of Trophy problems although I was able to carry on playing).

The 'reveal' of the Origami Killer feels contrived and doesn't really fit in with the rest of the story to date apart from focusing on the most unlikely suspect to keep it from being guessed one supposes.

Most importantly though the gameplay doesn't really develop or deepen. There's nothing more to it than whats gone before in the early hours. The story isn't great and it's full of cliches.. I get that it's supposed to be inspired by Hollywood but it ends up feeling lazy. I fortunately missed out on the love scene and the shower scene but there didn't appear to be anyway to avoid another uncomfortable scene later on.

It wouldn't of been so bad if the story had managed to keep you hooked but several bits are just laughable or plain unlikely. Come the end several things just aren't explained. Most disappointingly though it feels like there's no real challenge. It was a brave decision to not let the player die until the final chapters of the game but unfortunately it leaves little challenge and there's no risk/reward dynamic and thus no reward for playing well.

I didn't feel like my decisions where effecting the story in any meaningful way and the rare ocassions when they did it didn't seem to actually matter. When one character missed a particular item the police arrested him. Took his explanation at face value and let him go on his way.

I will, Playstation willing, have another play through on the hardest difficulty and make different decisions to see how it plays out (there's talk on the EDGE forum of only seeing about 50% of the game per play through but it sounds a bit unlikely to me) but my gut feeling is that it's an experiment failed.

Currently Playing: Heavy Rain

2010-02-27T05:51:00.000-08:00

This will be a completely spoiler free post and as such I can't really say too much about it. But I want to say something about it. I picked up the special edition in HMV for £45.

For once I opted not to play my iPod but to instead allow the games music to do its thing. I'm rather glad I did because it certainly adds to the experience.

I'm a little disappointed with the characters movement. The head turning and press [R2] to move mechanism smacks a bit of early Resident Evil and occasionally it's hard to get him to line up with things you can interact with. I can't see for the life of me where a direct control scheme mapped to the left stick wouldn't of been better.

I enjoyed both the prologue and the opening titles.. very high production values. I noticed from the titles that David Cage wrote the story. I wonder whether he wrote just the story or all the dialogue? It may have been worth having it polished by a 'proper' writer because just ocassionally it's a little clunky in places.

Mostly though I'm really enjoying it. It's very atmospheric. The game looks and sounds mostly amazing (although some of the characters look more realistic than others) and its certainly not a whole string of QTEs. I'm fairly well versed in the Dualshock pad and so I'm finding the rest of the control scheme very intuative.

So far then I'm very impressed.. I haven't even been introduced to Madison yet.

The "Complete" List

2010-02-25T10:20:00.000-08:00

Left 4 Dead 2 - (All Campaigns)
Mass Effect
Lego Rock Band - Story Mode
Darksiders - Easy
BAYONETTA - Easy Automatic
Lego Batman
Call of Duty: Classic - Normal
Fracture - Casual
Dragon Quest: The Hand of the Heavenly Bride

I completed this, my first ever JRPG completion, in just over 30 hours with the help of a very well written and indepth FAQ. Thanks Mr Threeman!

I've started and given up on a few JRPGs in my time and this is the first time that I really enjoyed one and, more importantly, got a good handle on the mechanics of play. I soon got into the swing of visiting the shops in every new location and upgrading my party. I also, eventually, got the hang of using the magic effectively both when exploring and in combat.

Of course random battles are frequent and often brutal. Especially when exploring the many dungeons. Here though, rather than see them as a chore, I found myself excited at the prospect of levelling up and unlocking new spells. The wide variety of enemies and the chance, later in the game, to recruit monsters to your party all help to keep things interesting.

It'd be unfair to spoil any of the epic story or the set pieces along the way. Suffice to say that despite the fact that it's all told in game with 2d sprites and text chat it's a compelling narrative. The dungeons are good and there's a fair few interesting puzzles.. One particular highlight involving mine carts.

The last RPG I completed was also on the DS but this couldn't be more different. There's no use of the DS's touch screen, microphone or anything particularly innovative, as you'd expect from an old SNES game but the graphics are, if not state of the art, very atmospheric.

Similar to my Mass Effect play through it was pretty much a speed run (I spent a couple of hours grinding on a couple of occasions, missed out the board games, Casinos and a couple of optional quests and of course I had the benefit of the FAQ which showed me exactly where to go) but every single hour was enjoyable.

The "Complete" List

2010-02-23T22:55:00.000-08:00

Left 4 Dead 2 - (All Campaigns)
Mass Effect
Lego Rock Band - Story Mode
Darksiders - Easy
BAYONETTA - Easy Automatic
Lego Batman
Call of Duty: Classic - Normal
Fracture - Casual

Picked this up in HMV, brand new, for £5. It probably provided almost exactly five pounds worth of entertainment. It's an old school 3rd person shooter with the added gimmick of being able to raise and lower certain areas of terrain (I seem to remember this being derided in reviews but you can raise or lower almost any dirt/earth area and not concrete/metal which seems like a fairly consistent rule).

There's almost too many weapons and enemies introduced in what is a very small game so weapons and powers get introduced and you barley have time to use them before it's on to the next. If you're not hunting achievements, like me, you end up relying on one particular weapons with a decent zoom and large capacity of ammo and just using the others when you have to to over come certain puzzles.

Other than that it's very generic, The hero, called Jet, has the standard space issue armour, no helmet, bald head and scar and could of come out of any sci-fi shooter. The plot is forgettable and the game is very short. It's a bit like a late period Arnie action.. the ingredients are all there but you feel his heart isn't in it.

To be this good takes....

2010-02-20T01:35:00.000-08:00

I downloaded the demo for Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing as a recent flourish of online Mario Kart Wii left me hungry for more karting action.

Turns out while it's relatively easy to make a Karting game and especially so if you've got a roster of well loved characters to fill it with there's a reason why there's still only one really good Karting game in existence.

The demo instantly annoyed me with the absence of an option to turn the music off. Nevermind the annoying voice over guy who shouts continually.

Still, I swallowed my pride, turned the TV down, Peter Gabriels new album up (Although it turns out a covers album rendered almost entirely in strings and orchestral arrangements probably isn't the best accompanyment to SEGA's day glo world) and got down to business.

Now I know Sumo Digital have a strong tradition of converting SEGA IP to home console but in this instance they seemed to have lost the plot.

All the classic ingredients are there. The demo gives you one track based on Sonic's Green Hill Zone. There's a roster of fairly well know SEGA characters and much like Dantes Inferno has been 'inspired' by God of War only someone whose been in prison for the last 20 years would fail to spot the inspiration here. There's homing red rockets. Green rockets that fire straight ahead and bounce and even a blue rocket that homes in on the leader.

Just like in Mario Kart you can press the bumper button to hop in the air and begin a drift. But where as in Mario Kart this leads to a precise test of skill as you balance the drift and earn a boost for completing one here the kart turns through almost 90 degrees taking all the subtly out of it.

It's also proper hard. Even when I'd managed to get a boost start I only managed to finish fourth. I got as high as second before a red she.. sorry I mean rocket sent me spinning and I was down to eight. Now one of the joys of Mario Kart is that you can go from first to last and vice versa within a lap. Here though it's almost impossible to claw your way back. Even when I earned sonics super star power up (he actually leaps out of his Kart and you hammer the 'A' button to turbo him along) I only managed to make up one place, over taking Ryu (sadly not in his trademark forklift truck in the demo) only for him to over take me on the very next corner. You're constantly being over taken by faster AI and pummeled with rockets and bombs.. the frustration factor was high.

Suffice to say I'll be waiting for either reviews or bargain bins before I pick this up.

Still while I was playing that Yazuka 3, also a SEGA game, was downloading and installing on my PS3.

Now this is more like it. I should say that while I'm aware of the previous two games on PS2 I've never played one. I was instantly impressed with the game. The visuals are hardly state of the art. The character models are reasonable but the city itself looks a bit meh. Especially given how close in the camera is meaning it's not even having to render a huge draw distance. But it more than makes up for that in atmosphere. It's night in the demo and the city is lit up in lots of gaudy neon and full of hussle.. Just like I'd imagine Tokyo is.

I'd imagine the full game breaks you in a bit more gently and perhaps has some on screen tutorials that help you learn the combat? Here after a conversation with some rival gangsters you're straight into a fight with multiple bad guys. I was soon knocking some heads together and using bar stools and what ever else I could find to kick some ass.

Like GTA IV the main character uses his mobile to get information and access e.mails and the like and I was then off to find a singing joint and meet a young lady. The rhythmn action singing and clapping was tough but again really captured that kind of cheesy japanese enthusiasm.. there's a kind of Hard Boiled feel to it all.

Another battle and it's all over.. but it certainly left me intrigued and wanting to explore some more. I'm assuming that there's a lot of slow exploring and chatting mixed in with bouts of intense violence?

So a tail of two halfs really.

The "Complete" List

2010-02-16T07:18:00.000-08:00

Left 4 Dead 2 - (All Campaigns)
Mass Effect
Lego Rock Band - Story Mode
Darksiders - Easy
BAYONETTA - Easy Automatic
Lego Batman
Call of Duty: Classic - Normal

This XBLA game was included with my Prestige Edition of Modern Warfare 2 and I was intrigued to play it seeing as I'd completed every other Call of Duty game on my 360.

Considering that it's now a fairly basic looking game and it's installed to the HHD the loading times are terrible. The bar takes forever and then there's a big gap before the last section finishes. I'm also assuming that graphically nothing has been done to sharpen it up for todays huge flat screen HD TVs as it looks pretty awful.

Having said that you can feel the Infinty Ward heritage and it is a good solid game. Actually the first thing you notice is an old fashioned health bar and health packs dotted about. Very old school. The next thing you'll notice is the brutal spacing of the checkpoints. If they register at all combined with the the fact that when it does to choose to autosave at a checkpoint for you you'll respawn with the exact same health you had before you die. It can lead to some teeth grinding frustration.

It actually managed to autosave me, with a tiny bit of health, as I entered a room with two Nazi's gunning straight for me. After many restarts (Happily there is no reloading. It puts you straight back into the action if you want) I worked out that if I started pushing the control stick forward before the game loaded I could just make it through a doorway and to relative safety. It wasn't great for the old blood pressure.

There where many memorable missions and set pieces though and I can see, despite the clunky AI and graphics, why it had the impact it did. I'm not sure whether I can recommend it whole heartedly though. Games don't age too well.

Purchase Power

2010-02-16T07:13:00.000-08:00

Inspired by a retrospective article in 360 magazine (Called "Club 360". It's a bit like Time extend but with input from the forumites) I picked up a copy of Hitman: Blood Money from GAME for £12.99 used.

I've never played a Hitman game before and I liked what I'd read. However for the what I think is the first time ever my 360 wont run it. I actually read the manual and it does clearly state the game only runs in 60Hz. My 360 is connected to the TV by a HDMI lead and the TV clearly states (A little box comes up when you change channels) that it's running in 1080p 60Hz yet the game tries to load and then informs me it's not capable of running at 50Hz. The instructions for the game don't marry up with the setting options my 360 shows me.. I've no idea what to do except maybe take it back to GAME, After half term, with a picture showing the TV setting and the error message and see what they suggest.

Unless my regular readers can help?

The "Complete" List

2010-02-14T13:50:00.000-08:00

Left 4 Dead 2 - (All Campaigns)
Mass Effect
Lego Rock Band - Story Mode
Darksiders - Easy
BAYONETTA - Easy Automatic
Lego Batman

I only paid £10.50 for this and I still feel ripped off. The campaign is criminally short. Even allowing for playing as Hero and Villains the whole things over in about 4 hours. Apparently I've only completed 18.5% of the game but I'm really not interested in replaying the game for collectables when the basics are so broken.

This is the third LEGO game I've played and it's really time Travellers Tales addressed some basic issues which just aren't forgivable anymore. The infinite lives is like applying a sticking plaster to a broken leg. The controls need sharpening up. Most of all the AI on your partner is in dire need of addressing. He can't even cover you when you're building something that's vital to progression.

Must try harder.

The "Complete" List

2010-02-13T14:58:00.000-08:00

Left 4 Dead 2 - (All Campaigns)
Mass Effect
Lego Rock Band - Story Mode
Darksiders - Easy
BAYONETTA - Easy Automatic

Bonkers!

The "Complete" List

2010-02-12T05:11:00.001-08:00

Left 4 Dead 2 - (All Campaigns)
Mass Effect
Lego Rock Band - Story Mode
Darksiders - Easy

Not a huge amount to add to what I wrote in the 'Currently Playing' post. Generally a solid if not outstanding game. For me the last three or four hours was a bit of a slog. I didn't particularly enjoy the last dungeon and there's a bit of cheap padding near the end.

I certainly didn't feel, Once I had all the powers available, the need to go and hoover up all the different collectables. As I was playing on Easy I didn't need to and the final boss, despite some cheap energy zapping attacks, went down fairly easily.

Unfinished / Sympathy?

2010-02-07T12:29:00.000-08:00

Inspired by Nish and his interesting and entertaining lists of games he's finished each year regular readers will know that I've become somewhat obsessed with a tally of my own yearly finishings.. Last year was somewhat inspired with a lot of games finished and a lot of old games dragged off the shelf and polished off to add to the tally... However recently I feel my enthusiasm for finishing games may have began to wane again...

Let me explain. I've been a game for over 25 years ago since interactive experience required me to press the space key on my ZX81 to drop a single 'Bomb' per pass of the screen on a 'Building' in the hope that you'd flatten all the buildings before you crashed into one in a kind of.. taliban simulator. In all those years I've mainly played until I was bored or frustrated and then moved on. Of course that has meant some games (Hello F1 2000 and Gran Turismo 2) that I've spend countless hours on without fear of 'achievements' or 'completion' just for the fun of playing.

At the moment I'm very close to finishing Darksiders which has already over stayed it's welcome. I'm about 3/4 of the way through Dragons Quest V on my DS. I'm two missions from the end of inFamous
. I'm on the last mission of Just Cause and the last boss battle of Ninja Blade. I've made a good deal of progress on Bayonetta and if we include downloadable games I'm very near the end of CoD: Classic and I need to collect a few more jewels to unlock the last boss battle on Pixel Junk: Shooter.

So should I crack on and try and finish these games up? Or should I admit that there's not enough time in the day and there's other games to play? Is the list that important? You decide.

The "Complete" List

2010-02-01T15:11:00.000-08:00

Left 4 Dead 2 - (All Campaigns)
Mass Effect
Lego Rock Band - Story Mode

I really enjoyed this. You'd think the Lego franchise wouldn't really mesh with the Rock Band and all you'd be left with is the bitter after taste of a cheap cash in. True there's no online multiplayer.. But that did mean I completed the whole thing on my own.. All at Medium difficulty too. (I think I might plateau here .. the orange note is pretty tough for my ham fists.)

The first great thing about is the set list. Apart from one duff Blink 182 song (are there any other kind?) every track is either good, really good or an FM classic that you'd know but probably couldn't name the artist. Either way they're fun to play. The Lego idea works well to. You're custom band is able to customise they're crib with unlockable Lego items and music equipment, There's Lego vehicles and cool Rock Challenges (What's not to love about playing Ray Parker Jr's classic anthem to clear a haunted house of Ghosts?).

Purchase Power

2010-02-01T14:48:00.000-08:00

My Sony headphones gave up the ghost on Friday. They're not that old but the iPod is in and out of my bag a lot and I wind them around the iPod to keep them neat. I was listening with one ear in when I changed to the other ear it had stopped working. Of course nothing these days is made to be fixed and I couldn't take the ear phone apart with out breaking it. One of the wires inside had dropped off the solder. Anyhow I decided to do a tiny bit of research on getting some decent replacement ones.

The What Hi-Fi website recommended Sennheiser CX 300 IIs as their 'budget buy'. Play.com listed them at £30 which, for in ear headphones, is pretty high end in my books! Still the post can take ages to get here so I decided to have a wander to HMV. There are many nice things about living on a small-ish island.. Retail choice isn't one of them. So imagine my surprise when HMV not only had them in a choice of colours (I got white cos it's kind of an "I've got an iPod" colour even though my iPod is a black and grey classic.) they also had £5 off matching Play.com's price. Sold!

I also wanted Hatful of Hollow by The Smiths having found out that a lot of the well known songs on there weren't the traditional single version but live BBC archive versions. They also had that! (Again a rarity in non-chart stuff) but it was in a 2 for £10 offer. Of course I would then be spending an extra £4 to save a £1 but I can rarely resist a 2 for £10 offer on CDs. Still, lunch time was nearly over.. I was in the S section and I spied a Steely Dan Best of Double CD which seemed like good value. The kind of thing that I probably wouldn't want to listen to in it's entirety but I hope will enrich my iPod shuffle experiences.

All in all one of my better local shopping experiences.

On the trail of the Origami Killer

2010-01-23T13:21:00.000-08:00

It strikes me that David Cage's new game may be more at risk of plot spoilers and reveals than most video games... of course I guess we've all read the previews and hands on so far and thus are aware of the four main characters and the general style of gameplay.

I was about a page into the OPM review when, for the first time I can remember, I decided that I couldn't finish reading the five page, cover story, review of a must buy game. There where two reasons for this. Firstly I had the aforementioned feeling that anything I learnt about the plot or even the game mechanics (I wont pass on anything here but even thumbstick movements) could spoil things. Secondly I didn't like the almost Carry On way they where dealing with the sex scenes...

I'd decided an information black out was require until release. I don't need to read any other reviews since I've decided it's a launch purchase for me come what may. Having said that I couldn't help reading the EDGE preview (the fact that EDGE arrived with it's preview after OPM arrived with it's review you can read into what you want) because I knew they wouldn't let me down. They didn't.

I wonder why a game that features as much graphic, adult, content as GTA IV requires nipple tassles over the strippers breasts.. not that I want to see badly drawn 3D boobs (I've got access to the internet right?) but I wonder what message it sends out to our younger viewers that it's ok to go on rampages of violence and revenge, kill hookers and steal their cash but heaven forbid that one of them should get a naked boob out??

But is the industry and, let's face it, The Daily Mail ready for interactive sex and HD nudity? I'm really not sure. As a nearly 40 year old gamer that's been gaming since I was about 11 I feel I'm ready for whatever Cage has in store. I'm also willing to give him the benefit of the doubt until I get my hands on it (F'nar F'nar).. but I still have reservations.

Great Expectations - 2010 Special

2010-01-19T04:01:00.000-08:00

Thanks to the Modern Warfare 2 effect the next few months are a 'bit packed' with big name titles so I thought I'd have a quick look ahead to what I'm excited about.

Mass Effect 2

A bit of unlikely first choice for me. Also the first game I've pre-ordered in absolutely ages. (Shopto.net by recorded delivery to work address). If, as they claim, they tightened up the shooting then more of the same in pretty much every other area will do me just fine. I'm excited at the prospect of being able to spend a lot more time in the universe this time.

No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle

Another game whose prequel I came to late in it's life and not expecting much from that I absolutely loved. I'm not sure what to make of the sequel dropping the open city. It wasn't great in the first game, being a bit quiet and dull, but I liked riding around on the massive bike. Having said that they seem to have turned up the bonkersness to 11 for the sequel and I'm looking forward to making Jeane lean almost as much as cutting a swathe through dozens of henchman with my beam katana on the way to another set of outstandingly crazy boss battles.

Heavy Rain

PS3 really does seem to have the strongest list of exclusives for the early part of the year. The game certainly looks amazing. I'm intrigued with David Cage's attempt to tell a weighty, emotional and mature story via the medium of video games. I've no idea how it'll actually play (Despite Cage's claims to the contrary the nay sayers claims of a Dragons Lair QTE fest do worry me) but I'll certainly throw my £40 at him in the name of innovation.

God of War 3

There's been a lot of plagarism and pretenders to Kratos's throne since he's been gone but I've every hope that this will raise the bar, on what's become it's own little genre, and show Dante's Inferno and the rest how it's really done.

Just Cause 2

The first game seemed to be begging for a sequel to realise it's full potential and everything I've read about this makes it sound like this is going to be an absolute riot to play.

Purchase Power

2010-01-15T07:32:00.000-08:00

Wandering around town today I happened upon a small selection of discounted PS3 games in WHSmiths. Lego Batman caught my eye at £21.00 and marked as 'Half Marked Price' as did Street Fighter IV for the same princely sum. Not that I need any more games at the moment but at a tenner a pop you'd be silly to miss them. However just to check that that was indeed the correct price I started with Lego Batman which, to be fair, Is the one I'm more likely to play.

In a handy Lego themed update, and in an effort to get more use out of my Guitar Hero Axe I also purchased Lego Rock Band for £22.50 from Shopto.Net because of it's excellent track listing.

Currently Playing: Darksiders

2010-01-13T02:38:00.001-08:00

Following some what in BAYONETTA's shadow we come to my second purchase of last friday. If you where asked to explain the difference between the two to a non-gamer you'd probably struggle. Both contain super natural main characters, both feature combo heavy combat against angels and demons (at least I think they're angels and demons in BAYONETTA)and both have shops for upgrades.

Dig deeper though and where BAYONETTA is like a fine souffle Darksiders is a bit more like a substantial gaming pie (if you'll excuse the laboured metaphor). Just as nice in it's own way but there's a lot more too it.

One of the fun things is spotting the homages (or down right stolen ideas) from other games. Obviously there's a huge dollop of God of War even down to breaking open chests that fill up you're health, magic and spending points. They've borrowed the dungeons from Zelda where huge levels full of puzzles and locked doors need to be completed with a new power/item before facing off against a boss and then unlocking new areas with said power/item. You even get an extra health bar.

Dig deeper and you've got the throwing star from darkSector, the claw glove for sliding down surfaces from the last Prince of Persia there's the opening section where you're fully powered before being stripped of everything that apes Castlevania and more besides..

However it pulls it altogther. The combat is meaty and fun. The exploration and level design keeps you wanting to see whats next and the dungeons are pitched (for me at least) just the right side of frustration where I keep getting genuine eureka moments when I finally work out the solution to a puzzle or how to take down a boss.

My only complaint is perhaps the UI is a little busy (the pause/stat screen has four seperate screens showing items and abilities and weapons) and the pad is crammed a little full. Every button apart from pushing down the left stick is used, and sometimes for multiple things. It regularly asks you to press up to three buttons and sticks at a time as well as swapping between multiple items of equipment.

Overall though it's a very good game.

First Look: Bayonetta

2010-01-09T02:54:00.000-08:00

Where DMC 4 felt like a souless effort by a team ticking all the franchises boxes to keep the fans and company directors happy this feels like a labour of love by a team at the peak of its powers. The attention to detail is stunning.

The first half hour is probably a little cutscene heavy but once you've done the prologue and you're into the game proper it's a stunning mix of awesome graphics, smooth combat and some light puzzles, exploration and collection. I'm really enjoying it. Even the boss battles. I even decided to play on Easy and not Very Easy although I can see it getting multiple play throughs.

Purchase Power

2010-01-08T13:39:00.000-08:00

So the first decent releases of 2010 (possibly the first releases of 2010) hit the shelves today. I actually had a gift voucher for christmas from GAME although I had no idea how much was actually on it and I wanted to trade in Assassin's Creed 2. Mainly because I was annoyed when I found out the DLC (it turns out it's the 'corrupted files' in the game) was originally to be included in the game. The guy in GAME complimented me on getting the best price for it (£20) whilst telling me there was no way he'd trade it. Cannily over looking how many copies of the original game where clogging up his shelves at £10 a throw now.

Anyhow I ended up getting Bayonetta and Darksiders.

The "Complete" List - 2010

2010-01-06T14:40:00.000-08:00

Left 4 Dead 2 - (All Campaigns)
Mass Effect

So I know there was supposed to be a review of the year 2 but in the end I couldn't be bothered.

I picked up Mass Effect for a tenner ages ago because friends have been badgering me to try it. I wasn't sure I'd like it. When I started it I was even more sure. It has a terrible opening few hours. There's conversations with people you don't know about things you don't know anything about.

However after a few hours the plot kicks in and the game gets a whole lot more exciting. Being a bit of RPG noob I let the game take care of my XP, which I kind of regretted later, and set it to easy, which of course I didn't regret later. There's a lot to take in early on and not a lot of clear instruction on what to do (of course I didn't read the manual but I'm reliably informed it's rubbish.)

Anyhow once it does kick in it's a great game. The various plot missions mostly involve blowing everything to bits but they're done in a very Hollywood style. The Mass Effect universe is very convincing as well with as good a cast of ships and aliens as you're likely too see outside of Star Wars.

Suffice to say I've already pre-ordered the sequel which I intend to dedicate a lot more time to and play in a more thorough fashion.. Possibly not on Easy.

Currently Playing: GT5 Time Trial

2009-12-23T02:50:00.000-08:00

I've lost count of the vast number of hours I've spent playing the PSone and PS2 versions of Gran Turismo. I'm sorry to have to say then that this 'demo' version of the long awaited fifth proper game of the series, and first on PS3 is absolutely terrible.

First off all despite having no other cars on track (There's a ghost of you're best lap but that's kind of semi shaded and flickers in and out) the graphics in game are very poor. Compared even to a similar track on Forza it looks dull and flat.

Because of it's time trial nature, presumably, nearly everything is fixed. You stuck in car view. Which I always hate. I didn't buy a 42" inch TV so I could peer out at the track through a tiny window. It's not realistic. When you're driving a car you can see everything. You're certainly not looking at your hands spastically turning left and right on the steering wheel.

Mainly though it's the combination of the handling and the sixaxis/dualshock 3 pad. It's telling that the default control scheme still utilises the facebuttons for brake and accelerate which of course with their tiny amount of travel are useless. Sadly because Sony have failed to fit proper X-Box/Dreamcast style triggers the L2 and R2 buttons aren't much use lacking both the feedback and comfort of a proper trigger. Personally I find that the Left stick becomes uncomfortable to use when I use L2 and R2 and feel the left stick should've been switched with the barely used d-pad ages ago. Worst of all though is the input of the left stick is very sensitive and it's just not up to the job. You can't input the deft control required.

Then we come to the handling. The traction control is locked on. But surely that can't be responsible for the car understeering off the track at every opportunity. Even trying to take a slow low speed corner can see you heading off into the grass. Prologue wasn't like this and suffice to say real life isn't like this. I've driven a Nissan 350Z and I managed to not slide off a corner once. Of course much like Prologue your ears are constantly assaulted by the sound of screeching tyres too. It's almost undriveable with the pad in my opinion. Considering I love driving games I still don't want to have the hassle of a wheel and paddles knocking about.

It's a crying shame that if this is indicitive of the finished product I won't be buying it. Apparently by giving Polyphony unlimited time to finish the game Sony appear to have let them disappear up their respective behinds.. A sad day.

Currently Playing: PixelJunk Shooter

2009-12-22T01:44:00.001-08:00

This is the first game I've downloaded in ages. X-Box Live Arcade has become increasingly expensive which, too my mind, goes against the concept somewhat. I prefer the open pricing of Sonys Store which shows things in pounds and pence as opposed to M$ points with games priced in units of 400 and points sold in units of 500 which seems like gross profiteering to me.

Anyhow. This is my first experience of PixelJunk too and I was pleasently surprised. It's a very polished little game. Nice opening, Nice animated menu in the form of your mothership and nice crisp, screen filling, graphics.

Having seen the screenshots I was expecting something akin to Thrust from my childhood and it is vaguely similar requiring you to use a grapple hook to collect little people from various caverns. However over coming gravity is out and twin stick shooting is in.

This means that instead of constantly having to concentrate on just staying alive (the walls of the cavern aren't deadly, you just bounce off) you can concentrate on shooting, rescuing and over coming the elements.

Various sections of the caverns are home to either water, lava or gas and the meat of the game comes from solving puzzles to make these elements combine to clear the areas.

Without doubt the best game I've downloaded all year. And at the price of a couple of pints of lager pretty decent value.

Review of 2009 - Part 1

2009-12-16T02:50:00.001-08:00

So it's come to that time of year where we look back at the past years highlights with fond feeling.. So to start off here's my top five games of 2009. In reverse order:

5. House of the Dead: Overkill - Wii

I played through the whole campaign again the last two nights just to make sure it was as much fun as I remembered. It's still a great mix of grindhouse style presentation, funny cutscenes, huge amounts of swearing and razorsharp gameplay. The campaign is good. With it's infinite amount of continues and the pressure of keeping the mutants at bay with your pistol whilst trying to remember where the gold skulls and power ups are. It's the Directors Cut though that I keep coming back to. Earning money to power up the weapons and then trying to get the multiplyer going by chaining kills together in an old fashioned highscore quest is twitch gaming at it's best. Highly recommended.

4. Forza 3 - 360

Quite simply a stunning achievement. It's not just the amazing depth on offer it's the ease with which it's presented that makes this such a leap ahead of the last game. Yes there's more tracks, more cars, the handling has been improved and it's prettier but you'd take that as read anyway. What makes it better is how Turn 10 cater for every skill level. Of course there's all the driver aids and racing lines and the rewind function that we take for granted now. But the game will auto tune cars for you, Suggest races that suit you're garage so you're never stuck as to what to do. Of course the online racing is great but now every Live memember has a store front where you can download their tuning set ups, graphics and even whole car designs. It's stunning on every level.

3. GTA: Chinatown Wars - DS

Probably the best GTA game since III on the PS2. Takes great advantage of the DS to make a living city that doesn't bring the harware to it's knees whilst at the same time adding great stylus based mini games, An interesting plot, A drug dealing side game that can take huge chunks of gaming time as you try to nail good deals and some wonderful set pieces. Chuck in better combat than IV and nifty driving and you've got the best new game on DS this year.

2. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - PS3

Certainly the prettiest game released this year. It's a rollercoaster of excitement and adventure all the way through. Like a rollercoaster it's very linear but rollercoasters don't get much more exciting than this.

1. Batman: Arkham Asylum

Quite simply you are Batman. Gaming experiences don't get much better than that. So much thought and care has gone into every aspect of The Asylum, Batmans powers and the source material it's quite simply mind blowing. I played through from beginning to end twice back to back. Every power up feels authentic. The combat system makes you feel like a superhero. The graphics are almost as striking as Uncharted 2 in their own way and it's got more atmosphere. There's moments of 'punch the air' excitement of course but everything is rock solid. Zipping about on grapple hooks never gets old. The combat is always exciting. It never forgets that Batman is brains as well as brawn and the cast of bad guys certainly pleased this fan. Game of the Year without a shadow of a doubt.

The "Complete" List

2009-12-08T02:38:00.000-08:00

Currently Playing: inFamous

2009-12-07T07:37:00.000-08:00

I picked this up in HMV for £20 brand new. I know it's due on Platinum soon but I prefer the original packaging where possible.

It's a sand box open world game where you star as a courier who finds himself with electrical super powers after a massive explosion in his home city. It's obviously operating on a slightly lower budget than say Killzone 2 or Uncharted 2 but it still looks pretty sweet.

The game mostly reminds me of Crackdown on the 360 but with slightly grittier feel to it. Cole, for such is the lead characters name, can basically suck electric out of anything that's electrically powered and shoot it out of his hands as projectiles. Rather like Altair and Ezio from the Assassin's Creed games he can also climb up pretty much any surface in a parkor style. It's not quite as fluid a system and Cole is perhaps a little bit over sticky meaning it can be difficult to climb down.

However it's mostly a very enjoyable. There's no driving instead Cole unlocks powers as you complete various story missions that allow him to begin travel not only faster but with more style. There's also a range of combat upgrages you can purchase with XP earned from doing things around the city. Side missions not only allow you to earn this XP they also allow you to reclaim areas of the city which then wont be populated by enemies. It's a good system drawing you into not only completing them but making the world a better place for you.

I'm getting on with it a lot better than I did with the demo. The enemy can be a bit of a bitch. They seem to be able to hit you with lazer like accuracy from miles away but whether it was the practice or the gradual unlocking of powers but I managed to get the train all the way to it's destination without to much trouble.

Overall it's a solid exclusive.

The "Complete" List

2009-12-05T02:27:00.000-08:00

Resistance 2
Mirror's Edge - 360
Quantum of Solace - 360
House of the Dead: Overkill - Story & Directors Cut
Fable 2 - Story Mode
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriot - (Liquid Easy)
Wario Ware: Smooth Moves
Saints Row
Race Pro - Career Mode
50 Cent: Blood on the Sand (Easy) - 360
Conan (Easy) - PS3
GTA IV - 360
Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
Manhunt 2
Prince of Persia
No More Heroes - Real Ending
GTA: Chinatown Wars
Silent Hill 2 - (4 star rating, Leave ending)
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga - DS
Silent Hill 3 - (5 star rating)
Little Big Planet - Story Mode
Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Killzone 2
WET
Halo 3: ODST - (Legendary)
DiRT 2 - 100%
Halo 3* - (Legendary)
Mario Kart Wii
CoD: Modern Warfare 2 - (Normal)
Uncharted 2: Amongst Thieves
Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time
Assassin's Creed - 360
Assassin's Creed II - 360

I enjoyed this much more than the original.. It's basically the same game (the movement and climbing and viewpoints all return) but improved in most of the ways you'd hope.

The cities themselves are more active, it's like a proper open world rather than the set dressing which the last game felt like. You earn money and can spend it on upgrades for your weapons and equipment which helps. The combat has been modified slightly too. It's still based on a fussy counter system but the window for getting a counter seems slightly more helpful. I'm still rubbish at it (the achievement for 10 uninterupted counters eluded me tellingly) but with the availability of health packs and a lot more options in moves and equipment it was more enjoyable.

The story didn't make a lot of sense.. but it doesn't seem to matter. There's none of the grind before you get to assassinate people and lots of other things to do and collect and six pretty awesome dungeons that have a hint of Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (the camera swoops about hinting at where to go before you start in a sort of homage).

The controls are still a bit fiddly with far to much shoved on to the B button. There's a new move you learn about half way though where you can leap up a climbing surface and then grab back on again to cover areas that aren't covered in little sticky out bits.. but the grabbing button is B which is also the drop button.. who ever thought that up needs shooting.

Other than that thoroughly enjoyable and they should really have something special if the third games improves again.

The "Complete" List

2009-11-24T11:44:00.000-08:00

Purchase Power

2009-11-24T11:40:00.001-08:00

I traded in Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time for the vanilla edition of Assassin's Creed II today. Which leads me nicely on to my next post

The "Complete" List

2009-11-23T02:03:00.000-08:00

Resistance 2
Mirror's Edge - 360
Quantum of Solace - 360
House of the Dead: Overkill - Story & Directors Cut
Fable 2 - Story Mode
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriot - (Liquid Easy)
Wario Ware: Smooth Moves
Saints Row
Race Pro - Career Mode
50 Cent: Blood on the Sand (Easy) - 360
Conan (Easy) - PS3
GTA IV - 360
Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
Manhunt 2
Prince of Persia
No More Heroes - Real Ending
GTA: Chinatown Wars
Silent Hill 2 - (4 star rating, Leave ending)
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga - DS
Silent Hill 3 - (5 star rating)
Little Big Planet - Story Mode
Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Killzone 2
WET
Halo 3: ODST - (Legendary)
DiRT 2 - 100%
Halo 3* - (Legendary)
Mario Kart Wii
CoD: Modern Warfare 2 - (Normal)
Uncharted 2: Amongst Thieves
Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time

Completed this over the weekend, Mostly during a marathon session on Sunday. I'd say it was probably a touch shorter than ToD. It's mostly more of the same. There are some changes. Some good, Some bad.

The biggest change was the Clank levels. ToD's Clanks levels saw him control the 'Zoni' to over come puzzles and obstacles but where mostly dull. The story of CiT see time manipulation come to the fore and the puzzles that Clank faces here have a Braid style inspiration. Suffice to say it was the part of the game I was least looking forward to and ended up enjoying most.. It's a pity there wasn't more of them. Just as I was enjoying the challenge they'd finished.

The Weapons, always a highlight of a R&C game where a bit weak this time. I ended up only using a handful. You've got to love a game where the missile launcher is called the 'Negotiator' but there wasn't the scope and variety of ToD and I didn't like the upgrade system as much either.

The space combat was improved, The bonus worlds had a sort of Super Mario Galaxy flavour to them and I enjoyed the ones I tried (at a certain point you need a certain amount of 'Zoni' to progress but I did the bear minimum of exploring side quests).

The cut scenes and story where up to the usual high standard and I found a lot of it laugh out loud funny. Especially the line 'I am your Father's Accountant.'

So overall a great end to this particular trilogy of Ratchet & Clank games but Insomniac needs to come up with something more for the next adventures.

The "Complete" List

2009-11-20T01:59:00.000-08:00

First Look: Episodes from Liberty City

2009-11-16T02:41:00.000-08:00

It wasn't that long ago when I went back to Liberty City to finish off GTA IV but it still feels like a while since I've been waiting for the DLC to be released on a more 20Gb HDD friendly disc.

I started with The Ballad of Gay Tony because I'd heard it been trumpted as a return to San Andreas (my personal favourite GTA) levels of excess..

Now I've no idea whether it's being spoiled by the controls and silky smooth gameplay of Uncharted 2 and Batman:AA or whether GTA IV has aged in dog years but going back now it feels horribly clunky and verging on the broken. I honestly don't know how I had the patience to complete GTA IV.

Rockstar have at least put checkpoints in which eases some of the frustration but in typical Rockstar form they've done it their own way. Having stolen an attack helicopter early on in the game I'm then tasked with blowing the yaught it was stolen from up.. Of course the guns fire forward and the rockets have a life of their own and there's no sight or recticle to show you where they're going to land.. Suffice to say I crashed into the see several times trying to bring my guns to bear on the yaught because you end up flying straight towards the sea...

No problem there's a checkpoint.. but instead of just throwing you straight back into the action it has to put you outside the hospital where you get a text allowing you to access the checkpoint. Which would be fine if it wasn't for the player character immedeately trying to phone someone. You just want to get back into the action and have another go but you can't. The whole thing, to my eyes at least, is starting to groan under the weight of what Rockstar are trying to achieve.

The "Complete" List

2009-11-15T11:41:00.000-08:00

The "Complete" List

2009-11-14T06:39:00.000-08:00

Currently Playing: Guitar Hero 5

2009-11-12T03:54:00.001-08:00

As previously mentioned this is my first experience of any rhythmn based peripheral type game. I was rather impressed with the 'Axe' itself. There's a pleasing weight to it and the finish is rather fine. Indeed on seeing it propped up in the corner of my front room a friend remarked that he didn't know I played guiter.. I don't. The only downside, at least for me, is the strum bar itself makes quite a loud clicking noise while you're playing.

But what of the game itself? As you'd imagine umpteen sequels and band editions later they've pretty much nailed the gameplay. There's an option to create your own character, use your Avatar, several defaults and the option to unlock several celebs (my personal favourite being the lovely Shirley Manson of Garbage fame.)

Of course once you're playing the pretty characters and graphics go out the window and all you can do is focus on the notes. I'm sure everyones familiar with the fret board style conveyor belt of notes. The game breaks you in quite gently with the option to just strum but obviously you'll soon want to start playing properly. At first even just the combination of playing three notes and strumming is terribly complex and you can only wonder how on earth you're going to be able to cope with anything else.. It's all about the practice.

You're fingers soon seem to take on a life of their own as the notes roll around you find yourself doing things you'd not of thought possible. I particularly liked playing 'Symphony for The Devil' as Richards signature guitar sounds come out of the speakers as you're hitting the notes does bring out the inner rock god.

What I wasn't expecting was how much fun it is as a party game. Two other players, even if they're all playing the guitar parts too, make for an awful lot more fun. They also help you if you 'fail' the song. They get the chance to get you back in the game rather than having to start again if you make a mess of it.

For my particular tastes the song selection is solid rather than spectacular although it does introduce to some songs that you find out you like that you didn't know. I guess it's a question of my age that the focus on newer stuff is not really my thing.. where's the Pink Floyd edition?

First Look: Modern Warfare 2

2009-11-12T03:44:00.000-08:00

As my regular reader will know I pre-ordered the Prestige Edition of Modern Warfare 2 and quite an impressive piece of kit it is. I haven't gotten around to getting the Night Vision Goggles or the Head out yet but the Hardened Edition case and the Art book where nice. It also comes with a code to allow you to download the original Call of Duty which I've never played.

But what of the game? Well I started on the Multiplayer. I got together a small bunch of Live friends and we had a go on some of the maps. First impressions is that there's a lot too them and plenty of scope for learning where to ambush people and perhaps a lot more to them then say Halo 3's maps. However as soon as you go public it's obvious that the larger number of online players per game soon renders that advantage worthless. At least at first.

The game moves at a much faster pace than Halo and a relative small amounts of hits are fairly deadly. Once in a public match it's pretty much mayhem from start to finish. The deaths, at least for me, came thick and fast. The Kill Cam is a nice touch allowing you to see what killed you but it'd be nicer not to die quite so often. XP seems to come thick and fast regardless of whether you're on the winning team and of how much actual contribution you made so it would seem a war of attrition could see even a rubbish player like me make progress..

The single player begins in a very similar manner to CoD 4 with a quick weapons tutorial and then a training area.. Although I personally thought this one wasn't as good as the last one.

The campaign get's off to a rather slow and annoying start as you take pot shots against the enemy from across a river and try to defend a bridge. Followed by an on rails section in an APC and a scripted explosion.. By this point I was starting to wonder what all the fuss was about and I'd had enough.

Purchase Power

2009-10-23T04:29:00.000-07:00

Couple of updates for you! I purchased the regular edition of Uncharted 2: Amongst Thieves last Friday from Game.

Today I got the limited edition of Forza 3. It's much nicer than the one for the previous game. Although it's not in a tin the cardboard box feels nice and substantial and the lid splits to unfold to reveal a velvet (style) lined box with the key ring, memory stick and the game in it's own plastic box! Much better than the silly tins which are a pain every time you want to get the game out.

The "Complete" List

2009-10-11T14:35:00.000-07:00

The "Complete" List

2009-10-07T02:29:00.000-07:00

Purchase Power

2009-10-06T05:08:00.000-07:00

I had a guitar lesson once as a kid. Sadly I'm tone deaf so I wasn't able to tune it. Thus it was a fairly short, but not sweet, experience.

However during a session on Halo 3 the other night with some of my regular friends an idea was born. To form a guitar hero based online band! Sure a couple of us where missing Guitar Hero 5... and in my case the Guitar peripheral itself. But the idea was genius!

Some online searches revealed that Amazon and Play where only offering £5 off of the RRP. I went to Game and bought it there and got (apparently) the last but one free promotional copy of Guitar Hero: World Tour thrown in!

The kid at the counter kindly informed me that I wouldn't like Guitar Hero 5 cos the music was rubbish but I'd probably enjoy World Tour. Just what you want to hear when you've spent £75.

Currently Playing: Ninja Gaiden 2: Sigma Demo

2009-10-03T04:04:00.000-07:00

Downloaded the demo last night. I still don't understand why the PSN seems so much slower than X-Box Live. Especially when it's sharing the same broadband. However I left it on while I went out and happily it was done when I got in and had switched itself off.. I was too drunk to manage it.

Had a go this morning. With the speech in Japanese and the English subtitles on so I could follow the story. It certainly looks very nice. There is a stark sort of empty feel to the levels as the reviews have mentioned but still it's impressive.

But man is it hard. The bad guys pile in and start whittling your health bar down, seemingly before you can do anything.. Presumably I need to learn some tactics and I need to learn them quick. Then I couldn't work out where I was supposed to go.. I'm not sure whether the demo just finished or if I'm just stupid. I can see the full game testing my patience (and Sixaxis) to breaking point..

Still I tempted to go buy it.. I shouldn't really because there's so much on the horizon..

Purchase Power

2009-09-29T06:02:00.001-07:00

I went to Game today to buy the new Dead Space: Extraction for some more light gun based shenanigans on my Wii.. however it's on the shelves at £40 and there's just no way I'm paying that kind of money for a Wii game. Third Party titles seem to tumble in value and I'll be very surprised if I can't pick it up in a couple of months for under £20.

So instead I spent £15 on Afro Samurai for 360.

The "Complete" List

2009-09-29T05:43:00.000-07:00

The "Complete" List

2009-09-22T02:14:00.000-07:00

Purchase Power

2009-09-18T08:20:00.000-07:00

So now we must be firmly in the silly season. I've some bad stuff about Need for Speed: Shift from a trusted source whose had hands on experience so decided to give it a miss.. Maybe pick it up cheap?

I wasn't blown away with the demo of Wet but still really wanted too play it.. After the awesome dollhouse I'm hot for all thins Dushku related at the moment. I liked the grindhouse style presentation and I enjoyed Stranglehold so if this offers more of the same I'll be more than happy.

Also it was only £35 in Game so hopefully I'll be able to trade it for something in a couple of weeks.

Currently Playing: DiRT 2

2009-09-16T03:09:00.000-07:00

First off the bad news. Ken Block and his X game American cohorts yelping and hollering is annoying. As is the games instance on battering your senses with menu selections and unlocked events hammering into place every few seconds. You get the feeling that our American Cousins will be loving being told their awesome after every event by the AI. It's just not something we, more reserved, Brits appreciate.

You've got to look past the surface sheen. Or even enter into the spirit by talking back to them (sample exchange: Ken Block "Woo.. Alex.. There's enough room for both of us!" Me "Eat wall you idiot!" having just punted him off).

The career mode is immense. While there's only 2 or 3 tracks per country there are a lot of countries and they're all nicely diversive in an organic way (They feel like countries and not a generic 'this is a jungle and this is a snow level'). The graphics are sublime. As the car crosses the line (complete with pyrotechnics) there's a super slow mo which never gets old and you can really see the love that's gone into it.

Of course any driving game lives and dies on it's handling. Initially DiRT 2 disappoints feeling over arcadey and with a tendency to be too oversteery on the limit. Perservere though (especially with the brilliant bonnet cam) and it all starts to come together and it reveals the depth that allows you to start taming what at first felt impossible.

Online is a huge leap for Codemasters, both from the previous game and GRiD. There's a Jam mode where, at last, you can have a host and pick exactly what you want to do as well as the Pro mode which is similar to previous efforts (no host and a random track and vehicle selection which you can veto) which works fine. It's nice and snappy and there's no waiting around while people chat and no idiot picking a car that's too good. It's better than before because of the wider scope of disciplines now availabe online.

If this is, as has been hinted, the last game to feature McRaes name then it's a fitting send off.. Just remember to tell Block to fuck off from me.

Purchase Power

2009-09-11T10:18:00.000-07:00

After two visits to GAME I managed to get myself a copy of Colin McRae:DiRT 2. I got £25 as part of a special offer for my copy of Batman: Arkham Asylum which soothed some of the pain of having to pay £45 for it.

The "Complete" List

2009-09-08T01:41:00.000-07:00

Resistance 2
Mirror's Edge - 360
Quantum of Solace - 360
House of the Dead: Overkill - Story & Directors Cut
Fable 2 - Story Mode
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriot - (Liquid Easy)
Wario Ware: Smooth Moves
Saints Row
Race Pro - Career Mode
50 Cent: Blood on the Sand (Easy) - 360
Conan (Easy) - PS3
GTA IV - 360
Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
Manhunt 2
Prince of Persia
No More Heroes - Real Ending
GTA: Chinatown Wars
Silent Hill 2 - (4 star rating, Leave ending)
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga - DS
Silent Hill 3 - (5 star rating)
Little Big Planet - Story Mode
Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Killzone 2

Obviously PS3 fans are desperate to have a FPS that is a Halo beater. Or the PS3 magazines are. I'm also not entirely sure why this game received so much hype. It's really not healthy.

It is a stunningly gorgeous game. When I played the demo I wondered what all the fuss was about. Everytime I fired the game up I wondered why all games didn't look this amazing. The character models are especially gorgeous having none of the waxy sheen that the Unreal Engine seems to give to everything.

Having said that, to me at least, Killzone 2 feels like an FPS Gears. You've got the same space marines who think helmets are for fools, A cover system, A rubbish story and a similar chunky feeling to the movement..

It's far from perfect though. As fun and hectic as the fire fights are the cover system can feel a bit arbitary in what it will fix too. In standard configuration the PS3 pad feels far from comfortable either for extended peroids.. Having to hold 'L2' to fix to cover, 'L1' to aim down the sight and 'R1' to fire combined with both sticks gave me terrible hand cramp.

The story is forgettable. The AI of your team is, for the most part, terrible. In fact I was quite pleased too discover that you could shoot him to death yourself to get past him when he was happily blocking your path and he'd come back to life automatically at the next checkpoint.

There's a lot of fun to be had though. It really does feel like war. At it's best the combat is intense and action packed with hundreds of bullets ripping through the dust and smoke and the Helghast (the games evil enemy) pouring in..

Also, like Gears it doesn't outstay it's welcome. Even on the easiest setting though I found it incredibly tough. Granted I'm not the worlds best FPS player but the Helghast are incredibly tough soaking up huge amounts of bullets, This combined with guns that require frequent longs slow reloading means that to make any kind of progress on the higher levels you'd need the kind of discpline I just don't possess.

I'm glad I didn't pick it up new, But at £20 I'd say it was an essential PS3 purchase for anyone with a passing interest in shooters.. It'd certainly be the game I loaded up to show off what PS3 can do. If I still had friends (in real life™) that would be interested.. but that's another story.

Purchase Power

2009-09-04T03:45:00.000-07:00

I've just bought Dragons Quest IV: Hand of the Heavenly Bride from eBay for £6.25 in my quest to play as much DS as possible. I'm not a huge fan of Japanese RPGs but coming off the back of Zelda I'm fired up with enthusiasm! Just £6.25 including P&P too! God bless eBay.

The "Complete" List

2009-09-03T13:04:00.000-07:00

Mos Def - The Ecstatic

2009-08-30T12:47:00.001-07:00

If there's a better hipperty hopperty album released this year I've not heard it.

I always think when listening to a rap album how the music would sound sans lyric. If this album where an instrumental it would probably still be stunning. The fact that Mos is a deft and interesting lyricist is an added bonus. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Let the Silly Season Begin!

2009-08-30T06:14:00.000-07:00

As September start we see the usual glut of software being readied for release for everyones christmas cash.. Having had a browse through Play.com's coming soon pages there's an overwhelming amount of new software about to be released.

Perhaps though less triple A must have titles than last year.. I think some of that's down to some good stuff being delayed until Q1 2010. That's not to say that this year is going to be any easier on my bank balance. Even discounting some of the optimistic release dates on Play.com I count at least 18 games that I'm interested in and at least 12 (across all five platforms that I own) that are essential purchases.

First out of the blocks is Colin McRae: DiRT 2 in early september, then in date order we have: Scribblenauts, Uncharted 2, Brutal Legend, Forza 3, GTA: Episodes from Liberty City, Ratchet & Clank: Crack in Time, Blur, CoD:Modern Warfare 2, No More Heroes 2, Gran Turismo 2 and Legend of Zelda:Spirit Tracks making the essential list.

Need for Speed:Shift, Wet, Halo 3:ODST, Pilot Wings Wii, Gran Turismo PSP and Assassin's Creed II making the wait and see list.

The "Complete" List

2009-08-29T04:19:00.001-07:00

Purchase Power

2009-08-28T05:20:00.001-07:00

I think Batman: Arkham Asylum is only the second new game I've picked up on day of release this year.. I ended up plumping for the 360 version despite the PS3 version having exclusive content. Mainly because 360 versions of 3rd party games tend to be superior and secondly cos there might be some fun achievements.

I also spied Killzone 2 has finally reached the magic sub £20 price point in Game. So I picked that up as well. Never played the first one but I having cleared Little Big Planet last night I've not got anything PS3 related..

I had a new set of questions today in Game.. Did I know the PS3 slim was coming and the Elite has been reduced? Did I want either for increased storage? Suffice to say I'm happy with my launch PS3 and its backward compatibility and I already have three 360s at home so no.. I don't want any more consoles at the moment.