Be Excellent To Each Other

There was just so much to do. I only just discovered water balloons on the last day as well. A whole weapon I'd not used before. Amazing. Bizzarely, I don't really like the GTA series, but then I haven't played it since Vice City. I think Bully being a bit easier made the difference for me.

And thanks. I now have six maxes.

Halo: Reach campaggen finished. Good fun, but the story was nonsense. B

You sad fucker... I've got nearly 30k gamerscore without a single max!

I passed 10k this week.

I also finished Halo Reach campaign this week.

Utter nonsense in terms of storyline.
Vehicular fun aside, not massively different from previous iterations.

Still acebest fun with bezzies.

Finished Singularity yesterday which I picked up for twenty sovs just before Christmas. I don't think this game sold very well, though it had pretty decent reviews — decent enough that it was on my list watch list that I compile through the year. It's a shame it didn't do better IMO.

It isn't a very long game but it's pretty, well polished and very enjoyable. The basic premise is nonsense as is the wont of most sci-fi FPS's, other than to say anybody with any experience of these games will recognise elements lifted from the likes of Half Life and Bioshock. The basic premise, if I can explain it succinctly, goes something like this:- You play a supposed US soldier sent to infiltrate a defunct Russian research facility based on an island off the east coast of Russia called Katorga 12. On this island, in the 1950's a rare element called e99 was discovered, the exploitation of which lead to the development of time manipulation devices and weapons that allowed Russia to dominate the alternate present day reality of the game. The Bioshock elements come from the reason for your being there, as it's clear from about an hour in that you're not who you think you are and the duality of the time manipulation element means that you routinely pass from the present decayed island to 1950s intact island. There's also evidence that due to some of the characters involved in the initial research station being unhappy about how their work was utilised that you may be some kind of time travelling freedom fighter, for want of a better way of putting it. I don't want to say anymore in case I spoil the plot.

Anyhoo to the gameplay. One of the principal weapons you have is called a TMD which is an upgradeable wrist mounted device that can do all kinds of funky shit with, from picking up distant objects, aging and renewing objects and enemies, turning them into irradiated beasts, slowing them down, etc., etc. The main thing with this game is that you will recognise many of the gameplay mechanics though some of them are new, but it's a real smorgasbord of different capabilities thrown up with the TMD that can feel a little overwhelming initially. You can play it as an all out shooter but the game will be tougher if you don't utilise the TMD correctly. All of the weapons you discover with the exception of the Seeker are upgradeable throughout the game so you get the time honoured tradition of being a badass against some foes, with others later in the game being more challenging.

I'm loathe to go too RA RA RA about it as it's all been done before, but as I said it's entertaining, sometimes challenging and extremely well polished and developed. I probably finished it in about 15 hours so if you can pick it up cheap or rent it I strongly recommend it. It's definitely one I'll play through again.

A-/B++

Singularity is one of those games I enjoyed while playing, but felt little urge to fire up whenever I had free time. It's a fun game, but I still haven't completed it.

Finished FO:New Vegas...as said before; it's more of the same. But who doesn't like more chips?

Went back to a previous save to hoover up some cheevos but it then stopped playing nice. Silly New Vegas.

I like the idea of Singularity and I might have to pick it up when I have a bit more spare cash. It's exactly the sort of thing I'd quite like to get on the PC, but Acti-bastards charge far more for their games on Steam and the like than any other publisher by far.

It sounds like it's got the kind of plot I'd be into, though having said that, I still haven't finished Metro 2033.

I finished Blur (well the single player career anyway) and have been back and ticked off a few of the less grindy cheevos over the last couple of days.

The final one-on-one was probably the best indicator of why it ultimately fell down. The one-on-ones are basically boss battles against a single car that you can beat by either finishing before them or destroying their car. In most instances destroying their car is the easiest option as they stay just far ahead enough of you to take a succession of power ups up their rear end without offering up too much resistance.

The final race is on a fairly windy track and after the first lap I knew where the most effective power ups were (Shunts (Homing missile) and Electro Shock (Mild Blue Shell equivalent)) so picked them up and launched two shunts and an electro shock which I never saw hit their target but wiped her out and won me the race. I felt massively disconnected from the "victory" and therefore the sense of achievement you would normally feel having reached the end of a game was about 5% of what it should be.

A telling sign was a quick look at the leaderboards which showed that not a single one of my 100 friends had registered scores on the final tier - it requires a reasonable level of skill but also the ability to ride your luck through a fair number of races that very few people have the patience for.

Overall I enjoyed it but it's certainly a flawed experience that is nowhere near as good as Split/Second.

I'd give it a B- and refer you to the following as a good summary.

Penny Arcade

I finished Epic Mickey this morning. Despite the camera being a bit wonky, it was fairly enjoyable. Plenty of going back and forth through areas doing side missions though.

There is lots and lots of nods to Disneys history in there which does seem odd. They were almost taking the piss out of themselves at one point with "Mickey junk mountain" being a massive landfill of Mickey Mouse memorabilia.

Still, I enjoyed it and it makes my Wii feel loved so I give it a solid B.

Everything that can be done in Burny Pee offline (inc Big Surf Island) has been done. Except the bikes, but I really, really can't be arsed.

I completed Batman: Arkham Asylum a month or so ago, including all the Riddler Challenges and other secret bits (including the secret room in the Warden's office).
By Christ, but that's one Hell of a game. And it made RAM Raider look a twat with his witch-dunking "corruption" shit, so bonus points.

Did you do all the challenge rooms and predator challenges?

They were proper hard towards the end I thought.

So far in 2011.

Super Meat Boy. Spectacular fun. A

Strangely, I keep returning to it for bandages and extra characters. Lovely stuff.

Cut the Rope - I did, and it was ace. Polished to a shine and lovely, well designed puzzles. A

Vanquish - Everything Halo and GoW should be. Tremendous. A

(I'm rather happy that I've given up on a lot of games that are not worth my time. No more wasting my time on games that are not worth it).

No, not yet. Played Mass Effect instead.

I've 'finished' Crackdown 2. Apart from a few minor niggles, it is better than the first game (this is saying a lot, because I love the first one) - A

I managed to one-credit DoDonPachi Resurrection (Arcade Mode) on my iPad at the weekend. I appreciate this isn't much of an achievement really, but it made me proud.

As for the big games: I finished 007 Blood Stone on PC a couple of weeks ago (I wouldn't bother, it's a bit arse) and am very near the finish of Singularity (also on PC), which really is quite marvellous and I'd happily recommend it. Bear in mind that it really is the 'bit simple' bastard love-child of Half-Life 2 and Bioshock, but still a genuinely polished and fun game in it's own right.

You sir are obviously insane. I say good day.

Good Day

Me and Dave 'helped'!

I'd say individually a lot was improved, but overall I didn't have more fun. Something was missing, though I can't for the life of me put my finger on exactly what

Finally got around to Bioshock 2. Loved it, so much more than the first one, so many nice touches and it just really got its hooks in me. And that Little Sister bit was stellar.

Finished Dead Rising 2 for my second time too. More greatness, it fixes almost every niggle I had with the first one. If I had a complaint, it seems a little too easy to save pretty much everyone on a single playthrough compared to number one. Also the map feels a touch too similar. Minor gripes though, really.

I should really get back to New Vegas now, though despite liking a lot of what they done with it, I'm struggling to be bothered.

Main game = utter tosh (I hate protection missions, and this is basically one giant protection mission).
Other stuff (okay, achievement stuff) = bloody awesome.

I, too, liked it better than the first game, but I'll never finish the main game because I'd rather put my gonads through a mandoline than do another one of those beacon charging thingies.
The achievement hunting & orb collecting was pure aceness though.

Finished Puzzle Kingdoms earlier this week after picking it up in the Steam sale over Christmas. Tonight I've been hoovering up the last little bits of stuff to do (not that there was any reward or message for unlocking everything).

As it's a successor to Puzzle Quest, you pretty much know what to expect. This time, you control a group of heroes who in turn, command an armies of troops. There are spells and items at your disposal too. Probably not as grind-y as Puzzle Quest, but if you're someone who got annoyed at the fluky moves the AI would pull off in PQ, you'll hate this.

There are masses of combinations of kingdoms, heroes, troops and relics to try out, but to be honest, once you've settled on a good one, you can motor through the last third of the game without changing much.

Some annoyances in the interface, such as it not remembering the order of your troops from one battle story to the next and you only realising when it's too late to change it but overall, a pretty solid game. 26 hours to unlock everything.. hadn't realised I'd sunk that much time into it. Probably finished the story in half that though.

If the screenshot doesn't put you off, it might be worth a go.



Rank - B

Lego Indiana jones 2 100% in game and maxed as well. Phew.

Finished Fable 2. I've not played the first game and this was a freebie from Microsoft. Surprised I actually enjoyed it. Anyhow some GT5 before I take on AC Brotherhood

Finally completed Portal. Was stuck on chamber 18 for ages, but managed to get the hang of dropping off a ledge and firing a portal into the floor to gain momentum rather than firing it and hoping I landed in the right spot, so off to chamber 19 for me.

Very long, and at one point ended up stuck on top of a fan after crawling through a hatch into an unportal-able room. Had to look up a guide and it turns out you shouldn't come out the hatch, just fire a portal through the fan and turn back round through the hatch to fire an opening portal from safety.

Anyway, the final room made my heart beat something chronic with it being timed but I rocked the shit out of it and saw the cake is a lie etc etc etc.

That final boss fight with Glados cracked me up... awesome game, dazzlingly simple yet mind-bending.

Only game I've really finished lately is Gears of War, 5 years after it came out... but it doesn't feel finished because there's a horrendous amount of multiplayer kills I need to get for cheevo heaven I liked it, was very frustrating but that is probably because I jumped straight in on hardcore without knowing the levels and isn't really the game's fault. Easily worth the fiver I paid for it though.

I finally completed Halo 3.

Typical Halo romp but I thought I might as well do it as I enjoyed Reach so much.

But honestly... whoever thought the Flood was a good idea needs a stern talking too!

I was avoiding touching the first core she dropped until I worked out what to do but then the timer came on and I got a mega stress on. Couldn't see where the 3rd core dropped so got gassed. Got it on the 2nd go, but by god my heart was thumping.

Maybe I'll do some of the challenge chambers now. Eep.

I love that Glados was voiced my Mike Patton.

I almost mentioned then, then wondered if he was only the voice in certain bits and didn't say it. In other news, his voice acting is one of the few redeeming things about The Darkness which I have still to go back to and slug through on hard....

Only the rabid third core at the very end. The one that was doing all the gibbering and growling.

My suspicions were along those lines... go me.

I won't mention which core scared me.

If it was the curious one, brrr.

Tomb Raider and the Guardian of Light was most excellent. One of the best Xbox Live titles I've played. Excellent puzzles and combat, and presented very nicely, great visual effects.

I'm awarding it an A (it would have been a B if I'd have paid full price though )

I might have mentioned this before, I can't remember.

Finished the main story of Just Cause 2.

Excellent fun. Really good open world in lush detail, and the hook/parachute control method is exceedingly satisfying. Guns feel great and there's still a ton of stuff to do, and I will indeed go back to it (as I did this morning) and try to finish as many of the side missions and settlements as I can.

Can't believe I got this for under a fiver. Bargain.

A

I just completed Halo ODST.

I enjoyed it lots and it was a nice addition to the Halo story line. It wasn't as good as Reach, but better than 3.

I also got it cheap recently, but can't get past the tutorial without losing interest.

I also got the Prince of Persia Sands of Time trilogy HD. Which means I have, after about 6 years, finally completed the Sands of Time. Sadly, the lift section is as bad as I remember it being. And, it appears, there isn't much game left after that either. Now playing through the second one (Which I also got most of the way through without completing it)

The HDness isn't really anything more than rendering to a higher resolution (and the ability to play in 3D, if you're daft enough to have bought a suitable TV). And Warrior Within remains quite buggy.

Is that on PS3, Dave?

Oh yeah. I finished Fallout NV and Enslaved in January.

Fallout NV was a bit disappointing if I'm honest — the storyline is a fucking mess of indecisiveness. It's also easier than Fallout 3 due to two factors: the congestion of the game world with so many places and things to do closely stacked on top of each other, and the far more prevalent companion system adding to your XP. I preferred Fallout 3 and I'd have to give this a B+
I did by and large enjoy it, but the narrative left a sour taste in my mouth.

Enslaved. Brilliant animation, if not the best facial animation I've ever seen in a game. The game itself looks luscious as well. The story and plot is a step up over most things I've played as well, which only makes the flaws that much more noticeable. The gameplay is repetitive. It's a fun game which I don't regret playing but the obvious disparity between the production values and the actual gameplay make me loath to recommend it for anything other than a rental or a cheap purchase. B

Prince of Persa Trilogy? yes.

360 doesn't / can't do 3D, as far as I'm aware.

It deffo does. Avatar, Codblops and a few others.

ISTR the 3d implementation on avatar and codblops actually fared better on 360 performance wise -linky for codblops

I can't say I am that arsed about it though other than as a curiosity - not really a massive fan of the whole 3d fad.

Until about a month ago I had only played the original Halo, but since everyone was talking about Reach I thought it was time to catch up, so I've been playing everything from Halo 2 and forward, including Halo Wars, and am currently playing ODST. Then I will finally be able to put on Reach, yeah!

Basically I cannot believe I never played the games before, they are all much better than I thought they would be. Halo 3 started off a bit weak, but then got better and better, and once you get to the Forerunner world it gets quite excellent. The very last level had me LOLling like a madman - one of the best gaming moments I've had in a long time.

Arkham Asylum GOTY is in 3D as well.

I finished Assassin's Creed on Saturday. Was quite impressed Did not get all the achievements, to sure if I want to replay it to get them.

I have jumped to brotherhood, or should I do AC2?

Not played Brotherhood yet, but from all accounts it continuous a linear improvement of the series, so I'd do 2, which is far better than the first one.

Depends on if you care about the plot. If you want to play both, do it in order.