Excuse the terrible title.
After (For me) a 17 year wait since their last new album it seems the much fabled Chinese Democracy from Guns N' Roses may actually be close to release!
The new single (named after the album) was actually played on Sara Cox's show this morning on Radio 1.
Obviously after only one listen it's difficult to pass a judgement on whether the wait has been worth it but after the opening guitar riff as soon as Axl wades in with his trade mark caterwaul I thought it was going to be pretty awesome.
Whether an album that's been in production for that long can end up being anything over than a self indulgent mess who can say? But I'm looking forward to finding out.
Wednesday, 22 October 2008
Monday, 20 October 2008
A look ahead to Quarter 4 - Part 3
So this is the third part.. Not quite so easy to title either.. It's the: "Ones I've registered an interest in but will only buy if they get a great review score andI get time Andthey're cheap"..
Far Cry 2
Sounds like an interesting concept.. Is weapons jamming and breaking going to be fun? So many FPS's so little time
Midnight Club: LA
It certainly looks very pretty and unlike GTA IV it has licensed cars. It's probably between this and...
Need for Speed: Undercover
Last years game was so rubbish even my casual mate (Whom I normally play EA's yearly offering with didn't want to bother) but having lifted it's plot from The Fast & The Furious this looks like something of a return to form.
James Bond: Quantum of Solace
Really looking forward to the film. Based on the CoD4 engine this could be pleasant enough distraction in a quiet spot spell next year.
Silent Hill: Homecoming
Is this going to pull of the magic? The signs aren't looking good. This can be summed up by 'Pyramid Head' turning up in it.
Motorstorm 2
Enjoyed the first game up to a point.. Later on in the game it just got to random to compete at the highest levels without teeth grinding frustration. Doesn't sound like much has changed this time around either.. This'll have to be cheap. Maybe even Platinum.
Resistance 2
Another PS3 exculsive that now has to work a whole lot harder for my gaming time now the novelty of PS3 ownership has worn off and I'm beginning to see the 360 dominate my gaming time.
Far Cry 2
Sounds like an interesting concept.. Is weapons jamming and breaking going to be fun? So many FPS's so little time
Midnight Club: LA
It certainly looks very pretty and unlike GTA IV it has licensed cars. It's probably between this and...
Need for Speed: Undercover
Last years game was so rubbish even my casual mate (Whom I normally play EA's yearly offering with didn't want to bother) but having lifted it's plot from The Fast & The Furious this looks like something of a return to form.
James Bond: Quantum of Solace
Really looking forward to the film. Based on the CoD4 engine this could be pleasant enough distraction in a quiet spot spell next year.
Silent Hill: Homecoming
Is this going to pull of the magic? The signs aren't looking good. This can be summed up by 'Pyramid Head' turning up in it.
Motorstorm 2
Enjoyed the first game up to a point.. Later on in the game it just got to random to compete at the highest levels without teeth grinding frustration. Doesn't sound like much has changed this time around either.. This'll have to be cheap. Maybe even Platinum.
Resistance 2
Another PS3 exculsive that now has to work a whole lot harder for my gaming time now the novelty of PS3 ownership has worn off and I'm beginning to see the 360 dominate my gaming time.
Sunday, 19 October 2008
A look ahead to Quarter 4 - Part 2
Next we come to the games that I'm interested in and will probably buy.. But not until they turn up cheap somewhere... So many games seem to get released these days and then get heavily discounted within a few weeks.. Not only from the usual interweb suppliers but even on the high street.
So what's on the Radar and which titles do I think will get the discount treatment?
FABLE 2
Never played the first game and I'm not normally an RPG fan either. Molyneux also has a history of over promising. This does look very interesting though and being a more action orientated (as opposed to the JRPG) RPG it certainly looks like one to watch. It'll be between this and..
FALLOUT 3
Another action orientated RPG. Never played any of the prequels or indeed Oblivion either. I guess I'll wait and see which game gets the best review score, See what the forum feedback is and make a judgement on which one I take the plunge with.
DEAD SPACE
The review scores are already in on this one and it seems to be a decent, if uninventive, game. Graphically it looks amazing and I'm looking forward to some survival horror to fill the gap until Resi 5. A definite new year purchase for me when I can find it cheap.
GEARS OF WAR 2
I enjoyed the first game but it was certainly over hyped. For me the multi player didn't have much depth and I soon grew tired of it. However it's not essential as it seems to be more of the same. Again I'll definitely pick it up. It's bound to be a solid amount of fun but there's bound to be a huge number of cheap second hand copies to occupy the quite spring months.
CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR
Another year another CoD, Obviously CoD 4 was brilliant (although in my opinion not the masterpieces the forum boys seem to think). This is the only title on this particular list that could pop into the essential purchase list if it scores highly and the feedback from players is good.. Not really interested in the multi-player... I find online FPS's a bit too hardcore these days.. But the co-op could be a laugh.
So what's on the Radar and which titles do I think will get the discount treatment?
FABLE 2
Never played the first game and I'm not normally an RPG fan either. Molyneux also has a history of over promising. This does look very interesting though and being a more action orientated (as opposed to the JRPG) RPG it certainly looks like one to watch. It'll be between this and..
FALLOUT 3
Another action orientated RPG. Never played any of the prequels or indeed Oblivion either. I guess I'll wait and see which game gets the best review score, See what the forum feedback is and make a judgement on which one I take the plunge with.
DEAD SPACE
The review scores are already in on this one and it seems to be a decent, if uninventive, game. Graphically it looks amazing and I'm looking forward to some survival horror to fill the gap until Resi 5. A definite new year purchase for me when I can find it cheap.
GEARS OF WAR 2
I enjoyed the first game but it was certainly over hyped. For me the multi player didn't have much depth and I soon grew tired of it. However it's not essential as it seems to be more of the same. Again I'll definitely pick it up. It's bound to be a solid amount of fun but there's bound to be a huge number of cheap second hand copies to occupy the quite spring months.
CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR
Another year another CoD, Obviously CoD 4 was brilliant (although in my opinion not the masterpieces the forum boys seem to think). This is the only title on this particular list that could pop into the essential purchase list if it scores highly and the feedback from players is good.. Not really interested in the multi-player... I find online FPS's a bit too hardcore these days.. But the co-op could be a laugh.
Saturday, 18 October 2008
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)
Ratchet & Clank : Quest for Booty
God of War: Chains of Olympus
Tiger Woods 2009
Haze
It'd be easy to give Haze a proper kick in. It's rubbish in almost everyway. However it's not devoid of entertainment.. Certainly enough to see it through to the end. Mostly it's cos I feel a bit sorry for Free Radical. Haze is clearly a victim of over ambition, low budget and a failure to get to grips with developing for PS3 in the time available. The central concept is solid. The opening section, to me at least, felt almost like a Verhoeven satire. However rather than feeling the horror of corporate war it's actually the best bit of the game. Not only are the rebels annoying their set of, I hestitate to call them powers, abilitys are poorly thought through, not much fun to use and sadly of little point (although playing dead is hilarious as you feet fly in the air every few seconds as you're up and down like a yo yo in heavy fire fights (although apparently gunship pilots don't have a problem continually peppering you with heavy fire while you're playing dead))as they don't actually seem to do much.
So to sum up very much a missed opportunity rather than an out and out bad game for me.
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)
Ratchet & Clank : Quest for Booty
God of War: Chains of Olympus
Tiger Woods 2009
Haze
It'd be easy to give Haze a proper kick in. It's rubbish in almost everyway. However it's not devoid of entertainment.. Certainly enough to see it through to the end. Mostly it's cos I feel a bit sorry for Free Radical. Haze is clearly a victim of over ambition, low budget and a failure to get to grips with developing for PS3 in the time available. The central concept is solid. The opening section, to me at least, felt almost like a Verhoeven satire. However rather than feeling the horror of corporate war it's actually the best bit of the game. Not only are the rebels annoying their set of, I hestitate to call them powers, abilitys are poorly thought through, not much fun to use and sadly of little point (although playing dead is hilarious as you feet fly in the air every few seconds as you're up and down like a yo yo in heavy fire fights (although apparently gunship pilots don't have a problem continually peppering you with heavy fire while you're playing dead))as they don't actually seem to do much.
So to sum up very much a missed opportunity rather than an out and out bad game for me.
First Look @ Saints Row 2
Well on first impressions it's no GTA IV beater. Obviously visuals aren't everything but man.. It's like I'd switched on my XBOX again. Still the opening sequence was amusing (A reference to dead R'n'B star knocking out records from beyond the grave made me chuckle and pretty much sets the standard) and you're soon on to a rather detailed character creation screen. Here you can spend as much or as little time (you can randomise most of it) as you want perfecting your character. I went with a Brandon Lee in The Crow crossed with Arnie in his prime and a dash of skater chick vibe. Obviously she looks ridiculous.
The game then get's underway and your off to reclaim the streets. The game itself while fairly robust (it didn't crash at least) is rather glitchy with NPC's popping in and out of cars and walls and the AI is terrible. One mission saw me being driven by an NPC into every pylon and wall we came across.. Still the controls are solid as is the action with a nice Resi 4 style over the shoulder 'zoom' for better aiming and a reasonable selection of weapons even early on. So far so average.
What lifted the game a 100% for me was when I invited a friend in for some co-op carnage. We started with some of the side missions (annoyingly you need to do enough of these to earn story missions). The first such mission was basically trying to create a set amount of carnage in a neighbourhood and was hilarious with the pair of us blowing up and shooting everything in sight. It works very well and there wasn't any lag. Voice communication was solid and we could drive together (one drives, one shoots) and soon got on to some missions proper. It's an awful lot of fun.
The game then get's underway and your off to reclaim the streets. The game itself while fairly robust (it didn't crash at least) is rather glitchy with NPC's popping in and out of cars and walls and the AI is terrible. One mission saw me being driven by an NPC into every pylon and wall we came across.. Still the controls are solid as is the action with a nice Resi 4 style over the shoulder 'zoom' for better aiming and a reasonable selection of weapons even early on. So far so average.
What lifted the game a 100% for me was when I invited a friend in for some co-op carnage. We started with some of the side missions (annoyingly you need to do enough of these to earn story missions). The first such mission was basically trying to create a set amount of carnage in a neighbourhood and was hilarious with the pair of us blowing up and shooting everything in sight. It works very well and there wasn't any lag. Voice communication was solid and we could drive together (one drives, one shoots) and soon got on to some missions proper. It's an awful lot of fun.
Friday, 17 October 2008
How to Lose Friends and Alienate People
First off I should say that I haven't read the book so my comments are based purely on the movie. Secondly I'm a huge fan of Simon Pegg. Thirdly any film that stars Kirsten Dunst, Megan Fox AND Gillian Anderson, three of my favourite women ever is going to be a winner in my book. So if you're expecting an unbiased opinion you should probably look else where.
The film is based (probably somewhat loosely) on Toby Youngs memior of the same name where in he details moving from England to work on a glossy magazine in America. I say loosely cos the film has been re-imagined as something of a rom com.
It's very heavy on the 'com' part though and maitains a very high laugh ratio all the way through. Unlike recent comedy efforts it's not based on 'gross out' or 'slacker' humour and while there are comedy set pieces the humour mainly comes from the razor sharp dialogue. I don't know how much input Pegg had in the script or whether they let him ad-lib (I suspect a bit of both consider he get's a Star Wars reference in very early on) but he's absolutely brilliant as the geeky brit abroad through out. Gillian Anderson also deserves a mention for her performance (Sidney Young: "Ah, so you're a publicist?" Eleanor: "I don't like that word" Sidney Young: "Oh, so what should I call you?" Eleanor: "Eleanor") as the ice queen publicist.
The Rom Com bit feels a tiny bit shoe horned in and you do worry that Pegg could be come the Hugh Grant of his day (forever doing the same Brit type role.. substitute geek for fop though obviously) but it's a very funny film. I'm off to buy the book.
The film is based (probably somewhat loosely) on Toby Youngs memior of the same name where in he details moving from England to work on a glossy magazine in America. I say loosely cos the film has been re-imagined as something of a rom com.
It's very heavy on the 'com' part though and maitains a very high laugh ratio all the way through. Unlike recent comedy efforts it's not based on 'gross out' or 'slacker' humour and while there are comedy set pieces the humour mainly comes from the razor sharp dialogue. I don't know how much input Pegg had in the script or whether they let him ad-lib (I suspect a bit of both consider he get's a Star Wars reference in very early on) but he's absolutely brilliant as the geeky brit abroad through out. Gillian Anderson also deserves a mention for her performance (Sidney Young: "Ah, so you're a publicist?" Eleanor: "I don't like that word" Sidney Young: "Oh, so what should I call you?" Eleanor: "Eleanor") as the ice queen publicist.
The Rom Com bit feels a tiny bit shoe horned in and you do worry that Pegg could be come the Hugh Grant of his day (forever doing the same Brit type role.. substitute geek for fop though obviously) but it's a very funny film. I'm off to buy the book.
Thursday, 16 October 2008
Currently Playing: de BLOB
I picked this up from Play.com for just £18 having seen a great review for it in both EDGE and over at Eurogamer. I'm about half way through the story (although there's heaps of replay value and much I haven't done in each district) and I have to say it's thoroughly charming and great fun to play. My favourite Wii game by a long chalk.
Basically each part of the city has been robbed of colour and the residents trapped in their dull appartment blocks and buildinds.. as de Blob of the title it's your job to suck up as much colour as you can and paint things back to life. Of course there are various tasks to help you win back the city and these are handily graded.. Although they're not all compulsory.
The game (at least so far) is perfectly paced introducing a steady stream of new enemies, moves and concepts as you play but never over powering with you too much. The only downside so far has been the lack of autosaving.. You get very used on 360 and PS3 to games saving for you after you've accomplished anything and thus being able to play in short bursts (something de BLOB would be great for) but as it is it'll only save after you complete a whole district. Which can take upto 45-50 minutes just to complete the bare bones..
The control scheme is pretty handy. The Blob himself is moved with the nunchuck stick whilst flicks of the remote handle jumping.. it can feel a bit vague. Especially when you're trying to get the highest parts of a level. But generally I've found it find. Especially with a bit of practice and the realisation that the Blob himself has a sort of friction when he jumps against a wall allowing you to manouever him. Double jumps, as noted by EDGE and Eurogamer, are very hit and miss.
The art style too warrants a mention. The games characters are all distinctive and fun and the fact that you can freestyle paint (you can even mix paints by jumping into different supplies of colour blue and yellow to make green for instance) and the game rewards you for doing blocks of appartments in as many different colours as you can.
Overall then I'd recommend it to anyone who has an underused Wii and is looking for something a bit deeper than the odd party game.
Basically each part of the city has been robbed of colour and the residents trapped in their dull appartment blocks and buildinds.. as de Blob of the title it's your job to suck up as much colour as you can and paint things back to life. Of course there are various tasks to help you win back the city and these are handily graded.. Although they're not all compulsory.
The game (at least so far) is perfectly paced introducing a steady stream of new enemies, moves and concepts as you play but never over powering with you too much. The only downside so far has been the lack of autosaving.. You get very used on 360 and PS3 to games saving for you after you've accomplished anything and thus being able to play in short bursts (something de BLOB would be great for) but as it is it'll only save after you complete a whole district. Which can take upto 45-50 minutes just to complete the bare bones..
The control scheme is pretty handy. The Blob himself is moved with the nunchuck stick whilst flicks of the remote handle jumping.. it can feel a bit vague. Especially when you're trying to get the highest parts of a level. But generally I've found it find. Especially with a bit of practice and the realisation that the Blob himself has a sort of friction when he jumps against a wall allowing you to manouever him. Double jumps, as noted by EDGE and Eurogamer, are very hit and miss.
The art style too warrants a mention. The games characters are all distinctive and fun and the fact that you can freestyle paint (you can even mix paints by jumping into different supplies of colour blue and yellow to make green for instance) and the game rewards you for doing blocks of appartments in as many different colours as you can.
Overall then I'd recommend it to anyone who has an underused Wii and is looking for something a bit deeper than the odd party game.
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