The "Complete" List

Resistance 2
Mirror's Edge
Quantum of Solace
House of the Dead: Overkill - Story & Directors Cut
Fable 2 - Story Mode
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriot - (Liquid Easy)

I'm rather ashamed it took me eleven months to get back to polishing this off. My main excuse would be that I must have missed the significance of the injection thingy. I had to check a 'Boss Battle' FAQ to see how to defeat 'Screaming Mantis'. Once I'd done that I was basically at the end of the game. At least gameplay wise. I guess there's no harm in spoilering this now because of the amount of time that's gone by but I'll still try and keep it too a minimum. Basically I think there was about two hours of further 'game' after defeating Mantis (A very funny tribute to the original PSone included) but most of it involved walking down a straight corridor and then pummeling the triangle button to make a very ill snake get to the 'main frame' thing. As you can probably tell once again I'm a bit hazy on all the plot details (Although I guess the eleven month break didn't help) but it was a genuinely effecting two hours despite the lack of interaction. I could feel my eyes prickling with emotion at certain points and I was pleased with how it tied up various elements (like the guy who kept soiling himself although the fried eggs are still a mystery I'll probably need Nish to solve for me).

So is it a masterpiece? Judged solely on it's own merits it probably is. Judged against the original PSone game? Not so much. It doesn't feel as much of a retread as Sons of Liberty did. I didn't mind the cut scenes either. Some of them where breath taking. But it's just not quite as good a game. So a flawed masterpiece. It's a pity we'll probably never see it's like again. Such self indulgence, such self reference, such genius... In an industry where shifting units now appears to be the be all end all it's a rare thing indeed.

Purchase Power

Today, In a fit of Indy based excitement, I picked up Lego Indiana Jones - The Original Adventures. The plan being to have some fun with it this week (hopefully complete it cos it's been a barren time on the completion front recently) and trade it for MGS4 on Friday.

The general review consensus seems to be that it's not as good as the Lego Star Wars games but the idea of playing Indy appeals to me too much to miss out.