The "Complete" List

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

Firstly apologies for the lack of updates, It hasn't been for lack of either game playing or buying them. Some how I've managed to not complete much recently.

Anyhow I recently completed Professor Layton & The Lost Future. The third sequel in the popular franchise. So what's changed? The most important feature is a new super hint that pretty much always saves you from being too stuck or having to check a FAQ by giving you a more obvious hint to a particular puzzles solution.

Otherwise we have the same high production values, the same cute characters and relationships, An increasingly bonkers plot (not just bonkers for the series but bonkers as it goes along), A slightly more worrying relationship between The Prof and Luke and, if we're really honest, a feeling that some of the puzzles are rehashed, some are plain bizarre and some just aren't that good.

Still there's nothing more satisfying than a puzzle solved.

The "Complete" List

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

The eagle eyed Blog reader will notice that I completed this on Normal difficulty. A step up from my normal level of challenge to be sure. Regular readers will also remember that I pretty much hated the demo.

It's like Ninja Theory decided to make a game just for me. Yes it's a bit slow to get going but once it does get going it's really good. It helps of course that it's a very pretty game. Obviously the all star input in acting and script writing helps draw you in. Then the solid action kicks in. The combat is solid and chunky and doesn't require the memory of a million strings of combos but it isn't button mashy either.

The platforming is reminiscent of the Prince of Persia reboot, Anything that Monkey can jump too is highlighted so there's not much in the way of frustration. Your AI companion Trip soon stops being annoying and the relationship between the too is genuinely interesting.

For me there's definite hints of Jak & Daxter too and seeing as that's my favourite 3D platformer of all time that's got to be a good thing.

I even enjoyed the frankly bizarre final, gameplay free, chapter. Looking forward to the sequel.

The "Complete" List

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.

The "Complete" List

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)

A happy coincidence of the holiday arrangements at work meant that I ended up taking the week off of release. I got stuck straight into the solo campaign on Normal and I really enjoyed it. For me it's the best ever Halo campaign. It's free of The Flood, annoying repetative levels and the kind of gimmicks that brought down Halo 2 and ODST (a second playable character and the city levels respecively).

It's also the first one that really gets the most out of the 360 with great draw distance and some stunning levels and architecture. There's also a lot of variety to the levels and action too (I wont say any more on this for fear of spoilers).

As you'd expect the Multiplayer provides a great slab of entertainment. Subtly rebalanced weapons wise there's a reasonable selection of levels out of the box and the selection of power ups is nice. As is the way post Modern Warfare nearly everything you do gives you XP for ranking, which is nice, and customisation of your Spartan which is frankly pointless.

I then made a stab at completing it on Heroic. I really had to up my game for this. It's brutally hard. Not helped by some unforgiving checkpoints. There was a couple of points where I had to put the pad down, have a deep breath, a smoke a drink and a ponder and come back to it. I do feel though it helped my improve my skills in general and there's been a marked improvement in my multiplayer skills. At least I think so.

I also had a great time completing the campaign in co-op on Legendary with Lee and Geoff. The advantage here is that as long as one person stays alive you're not sent back to the last checkpoint when you die which makes progress a lot less frustrating.

Overall a great campaign and a generous package. A fine last Halo Hurrah from Bungie.

The "Complete" LIst

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

Limbo should be approached with as little prior information as possible for the best experience so this will be a very short post. It plays like a dream (almost literally) and is a stunning experience. Go download now.

The "Complete" List

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

To be honest I've had a bit of like/hate relationship with Red Dead Redemption which is why I've resisted writing about it until I finished it.

There's no doubt that Rockstar have created a stunning world complete with amazing eco system for you to play in. The first time you see a sunset or a herd of buffalo or stumble across a grizzly bear are some great moments..it's just everything else that let's it down.

Well not quite everything else. There's been some improvements since GTA IV. Mid-mission checkpoints for story missions ease frustration. The auto targetting mostly selects the right target and the 'Dead Eye' bullet time mode stacks the odds in your favour.

However lots of other things are starting to feel a bit dated. Compared to something like Assassin's Creed 2 or Uncharted 2 it all feels a bit clumsy. Running is still consigned to the (A) button. Meaning no matter how far I push my analogue stick I still walk at a snails pace. Moving from cover and trying to line up with ladders and doorways is still comically rubbish most of the times but frustrating when you're trying to complete missions.

Horses just aren't as fun as cars. Whilst the wild west is an impressive sight there's no getting away from the fact that there's only so many paths and trails you can travel down compared to say Liberty Cities warren of streets. This means that a lot of journeys boil down to galloping along the same stretch of country back and forth over and over. You can quick travel but of course being Rockstar first you have to find somewhere to set up a camp and then select the map and then quick travel.

My biggest gripe is that after four 3D GTA games I'm starting to get a bit bored of travelling from a to b to accept a mission and then from b to c to start. Most of the missions revolve around killing a load of bad guys and by half way through it had all started to turn into something of a grind. Rockstars writing just isn't as good or interesting as they think it is and I really couldn't of cared less about the plot. Come the last section I was skipping cut scenes and just desperate to get it all over with.

The "Complete" List.

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

There's obviously a very fine line between success and failure in all good video games... Split Second turns it up to 11. For me it's possibly a touch to harsh. I like to win. Having said that it is punch the air exciting when you pull off the right moves.

It's a fictional futuristic ultra violent TV show yadda yadda... The presentation is slick but it doesn't really need to hang a narrative on it.. the action speaks for itself. There's just enough variety in the tracks and events to keep you going. More importantly the AI puts up a good fight.. Don't let the Disney label fool you, like it did me, that it's going to be a walk in the park.. from the second episode on every win feels hard fought..

There's a bit of a difficulty spike around the middle where I hadn't unlocked a good enough car to progress any further and then had to grind a touch but otherwise it's almost perfectly pitched.. Really enjoyed it. It's pure arcade racing action.. testing my drifting skills like they haven't been tested since Ridge Racer 4 and my reactions like.. well like they don't seem to bother these days since rewinding became en vogue.

The "Complete" List

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

I guess having only spent a tenner on it there was no need to try and play it on the hardest difficulty setting.. or I've just reverted to type. Either way there was a lot to like here.

Even with out a kick ass surround system (or indeed any kind of surround system) the audio definitely warrants a mention.. all the clunks and out there noises combined with some awesome graphics gave the game plenty of atmosphere. I also really like the way the game needed no HUD. I can't remember now whether this came before or after Bioshock but the way the protagonist's suit projected all the audio files really added a lot of depth. Personally I'd of rather I'd been able to manage my inventory without being attacked but it certainly added to the survival horror.

All in all a very enjoyable game.

The "Complete" List

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

I did the first three missions with a friend and while neither of us where showered in glory we managed to do it all on Realistic difficulty.

I've pre-ordered Alan Wake for Friday though so I was keen to get the Co-op finished so I could trade this. That meant trying to find a random to do the last mission with. Which shouldn't of been to hard..

The first guy that match making brought up had no headset and insisted on trying to shoot the three guards at the start of the level despite being warned at the start that we weren't allowed to raise a single alarm.. He wasn't even trying to take them down with headshots.. just firing away with his pistol. Causing us to fail three times in a row without even moving.. So I quit back to the lobby.

The second guy also had no headset but was obviously some kind of pro gamer as he fired his EMP and ran through the first bit.. leaving me to get caught by the angry guards left in his wake.. the second time he left me!

The third guy (as it turned out a non-English speaking Japanese gamer) had no headset either but was fairly proficient and we made it all the way through to the final part of the level without too much trouble. The last checkpoint took us an hour and ten minutes to complete. Very satisfying though when we finally strung it all together (with out any communication) and made it to the end.

I thoroughly enjoyed the co-op campaign... Probably more so then the main story. It works really well.

The "Complete" List

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

In contrast to Phoenix Wright I really enjoyed everything about Professor Layton's latest adventure. The olde worlde charm of the Professor and his assistants adventures are whimisical and charming and there's a good selection of head scratching puzzles to work through. I particularly enjoyed the camera and hamster side quests and was pleased to have assembled the camera and got the hamster up to full fitness. At just under 12 hours I completed 109 out of the 110 puzzles I found. Heartily recommended to all DS owners.

The "Complete" List.

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

There's been some smack talk around these parts about the difficulty level that I've been finishing some games on.. So I thought I'd man up and take this one on in Normal rather than Easy. Glad I did.

Regular readers might remember that I thoroughly enjoyed the first game. So much so that I completed it twice on the bounce. This second chapter has a slightly different feel. Less comedy gold chasing and more Modern Warfare influence.

It's still a great game though. DICE's Frostbite engine returns and with it the destruction of most of the enviroment. Teamed with chunky weapons and a great sound track to the shooting end explosions it feels much less scripted and bombastic than MW2 whilst in the most part now being just as linear.

There's lots of great moments along the way with out the feeling that DICE are trying to hard. One particular highlight involves making your way down a frozen mountain.. the screen steadily whites in as you get cold meaning you have to dash between either houses or explode things to make nice warming fires.. all the way being assaulted by chummys. One of my favourite bits is using [RB] to melee attack wooden doors. You're dashing to the next house, barely alive, smash the door down, burst in, pull out an SMG and nail a couple of goons before having a quick recon and then you're off again. Exciting!

The particle effects are particularly note worthy. One mission features some desert based action and the sand whipping through and around makes for an interesting mission as you struggle to see.

Overall a pulse pounding adventure that feels exciting for the things your doing rather than for the things it's showing you. Recommended.

The "Complete" List

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.

The "Complete" List

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

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.

The "Complete" List

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

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?).

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.

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

Having gone back to this for the first time in over a year I managed to fluke the mission I was stuck on (after 4 or 5 aborted attempts) and killed the one person I needed out of the crowd of guards. There follows possibly the most annoying lead up to the end of a game in recorded history. Altair is never at his best in my clumsy hand in combat amongst a crowd.. Especially when I'd forgotten the all the controls (The manual is useless in this respect). When it came back to me I finally managed to kill the crowd of guards and then had to run around in a circle for ages avoiding the 'hit' until I got my strength back.

After that it was pretty much plain sailing until the 100g 'cheevo popped up for finishing the game.

That, if I'm not mistaken, bring my total to the year to 36 games which I'm pretty proud of. Yes there's been a few Easy ones. But not enough games let you change the difficulty mid game. It's difficult to know what kind of challenge lies ahead at the option screen.

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

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

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

I'm a huge fan of Naughty Dog and this doesn't disappoint. It's a cracking adventure from start to finish. The cutscenes are genuinely enjoyable. It does everything a good sequel should. Building on the first game but making everything better.

Personally I'd rather not have AI companions for quite so much of the game and I still think the puzzles are a bit too few and far between but other than that it's hard to fault.

Some brilliant set pieces and strong level design maintain your interest all the way to the end.

Personally I have to say I think Batman: Arkham Asylum probably just shades it as my GOTY but it's a close call.