Currently Playing: GT5 Time Trial

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

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

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

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
Guitar Hero 5 - 360

I was in two minds whether to include this on the list because I had a lot of help in Multiplayer completing the songs. The Achievement unlocked is actually called 'Beat The Game' though and it's my blog so it's going on!

Currently Playing: inFamous

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

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.