Editorial

Don't worry. I'll still be randomly blogging about stuff that interests me.. But I want to widen the scope of this blog to include my thoughts on pretty much anything.

Currently Playing: Race Driver:GRID

I've had a pain in my arm for a number of weeks now.. I'm guessing it's some kind of Tennis Elbow slash RSI kind of thing from all the car cleaning I have to do at work (Polishing, Glass cleaning, Washing Cars all takes the form of a similar circular arm movement)..

However having gone back to GRID to mop up the last 8 championships to be able to add it to the 'Done and Dusted' pile I've got a sneaking suspicion it might be the intense joypad holding action of playing GRID... I've just managed one event (consisting of four races.. I won them all if you're interested) and my right arms really locked up..

I guess one must suffer for ones art.

Purchase Power

Time to dust off the old PSP (And as it turns out charge the fucker for 2 hours before I can attempt to update the firmware.. Despite it being plugged into the mains as well) and so I picked up Everybodys Golf 2 for my little sleek black beauty.

Yes the Everbody's Golf formula really hasn't changed much since the PSone original but hey.. I'm up for another swing.

What's on the Box(set) ?

I just finished watching Prison Break season two.. Now it took me ages to finally watch the whole of Prison Break and whilst one naturally has to suspend ones sense of disbelief when watching such a glossy american drama series (I mean I'm sure american government field agents regularly have as exciting days as Jack Bauer manages in 24) it just got a bit to unlikely and stretched out to fill 24 episodes or so...

It's not giving much away to confirm that at the end of season one they did indeed manage to break out of the prison and go on the run.. However I wasn't exactly thrilled at the prospect of another season.. How wrong I was (I'm as surprised as you at this turn of events). Season two is a rollercoaster thrill ride of conspiracy, tricky situations and action. Yes there's one or two unlikely turn of events (someone get's sentenced to 25 years in prison and yet is working for the FBI with in two episodes) but overall the action never lets up and it's compulsive viewing.

There's two reasons, I think, for this. Outside of the Prison enviroment the characters are given more room to breath and as such become more three dimensional than the stereotypes of the american prison drama (The guards are corrupt, The sexually predatory perverts etc. etc.). Secondly the wider scope of the pursuit of the convicts introduces some great new characters (The on the edge FBI agent and particularly a sinister asian agent working for 'The Company' stand out in particular).

Recommended viewing and a great payback of entertainment for the time invested in Season One.

The "Complete" List

John Woo Presents Stranglehold
Portal
Test Drive: Unlimited ( ALL Gold in the SP challenges.)
Loco Roco*
The Darkness (Easy)
Lost: Via Domus
LEGO Indiana Jones - The Original Adventures (Story Mode)
Battlefield: Bad Company (Easy) & (Normal)

Re-completed B:BC on the Normal difficulty setting and I have to say thoroughly enjoyed it again.. Probably more so.. Less to do with the slightly stiffer opposition and more to do with having a better idea of how the game worked and how to effectively use the hardware at my disposal.. Some of the sections that caused me trouble first time around because I was dashing through it where much more fun with a more considered use of tactics and fire power.

My favourite section of the game is the escape from the Monastry down the mountain.. There's a helicopter gunship on your tail the whole way down and plenty of tanks and groups of troops meaning a straight run in the provided jeep leads to a lot of getting blown up and frustrating restarts.. Making good use of the laser designator as I went made short work of the tanks and enabled a break neck dash from jeep to power boat, stop briefly to blow up a frigate. A pitched battle ensued to secure the last jeep.. A last minute dash to the safe zone saw my jeep exploding just as I triggered the cut scene.. It was a real Hollywood action movie moment.

Great game. Now I've just got to finish MGS4... ;)

NRoD

Or No Ring of Death if you will.. My 360 wireless pad refuses to power up no matter what I try.. New batteries.. Pressing all the buttons.. Cleaning the terminals... Dead.

The "Complete" List

John Woo Presents Stranglehold
Portal
Test Drive: Unlimited ( ALL Gold in the SP challenges.)
Loco Roco*
The Darkness (Easy)
Lost: Via Domus
LEGO Indiana Jones - The Original Adventures (Story Mode)
Battlefield: Bad Company (Easy)

Suffice to say I enjoyed the first play enough to go straight into another bash on Normal... Not just for the achievements either ;)

I'm a Lumberjack and I'm...

OK!

I know, I know.. I hate Monty Python but chopping down trees with machine gun in Battelfield: Bad Company (from here on in now known as B:BC) is just so much fun.. Especially as they stay down.. CO2 emissions?? Who cares! Stumps look so much cooler!

Purchase Power

A quiet time for purchasing recently.. A fairly quiet time for blogging too..

Bought Battlefield: Bad Company. Hoping for an action packed single player game and hopefully something that'll get me back into the multi player Live arena..