#2 Insert Coin Bonus Stage (part 1)

It's been a long time, but boy! is this a long one.
I'm been playing catch up with a number of video game reviews/thoughts/rants for ages, so I thought it'd be a cool idea to catch up in podcast form.
Featured games are: Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise, some afterthoughts on GTA IV after I finally completed it, Flower - the big game in a small package and closing off with some rather in-depth thoughts on Fable 2.

It's a double-edged sword as it seems unfair to try and squeeze it all into one, so I've broken into two parts, so apologies for the formal goodbye, I'll make it up next time.

As mentioned during the podcast, I may have forgotten some major pros/cons of a game so don't shun me for this being done on the spot - for the information that has been included, I've tried to be careful but there are some spoilers within, you have been warned. Enjoy.

Featured Music:
Intro/Outro - Pacific Theatre - Yourcodenameis:milo
When We Were Younger and Better, A Failsafe, Music is Music as Devices are Kisses is Everything, Little Victories - all by 65daysofstatic.
The Birth and Death of the Day, Welcome, Ghosts, It's Natural To Be Afraid, What Do You Go Home To, Catastrophe And The Cure- Explosions in the Sky
Quiet, There Are Some Remedies Worse Than the Disease - This Will Destroy You

iTunes link

[MP3] Download the show [51:33] (Right click, Save as)

Read full post >>

#16 Left 4 Dead

There's one game recently that has dominated my online play, and that game is Left 4 Dead - Valve's co-op shooter set in a zombie apocalypse (also available on PC). This is a game that whilst does offer an offline, single-player, can only truly be experienced properly with three others WITH headsets and that is crucial - having your teammates shout out for help, berate you for failing to save them when surrounded and offer congratulations for pulling through a nasty scrape is genius. The simple fact that playing through this game, makes yourself and others emote so is testament to the quality of title here.

What do I think of this game? Simply awesome. Is that not enough for a review?… Fine, click for more.


Left 4 Dead has you play as one of the four survivors through four themed campaigns, the premise being that you must work and help each other through zombie-infested streets, houses, sewers etc towards a hopeful rescue. These campaigns are full of movie set-pieces and cliches, the impression further cemented by the movie poster loading screen when the campaign starts. Each campaign is split into 5 "chapters" or levels with a "safehouse" being the goal at the end of each chapter. Each campaign builds to its finale where the survivors have to call for the rescue vehicle (a helicopter in one scenario, a yacht in another etc), and then hold out against waves of zombies until it arrives.

The beauty of the game is in its ability to induce panic even when there may not actually be that many zombies running at you. Holding down the trigger as you try and mow the advancing numbers down and your accuracy will suffer, which only adds to the panic as you begin to struggle to clear these zombies.

Along with the finale set pieces, there are also chokepoints throughout the stages such as waiting for the elevator, opening an emergency door etc where you can no further until you initiate the sequence. Doing so predictably alerts the zombie horde to your presence, so get ready to defend your position.

To make progress through the levels even harder, the survivors will come up against boss or elite infected characters. The Hunter will pounce on an unsuspecting survivor and start ripping them to shreds. The Boomer will attempt to vomit over survivors - the Boomer's bile would attract the horde and the vomitees (I’m arguing for it to be a word) would become the sole target for the zombie pack. The Smoker has the ability to lasso with his tongue and drag them away from the other survivors. The Tank is a hulk-like super-zombie that can pummel a survivor to death, hurl slabs of concrete and requires all four to work together to take it down. Finally, there's the Witch that doesn't dynamically spawn like the others, but sits stationary - the choice is to try and sneak round and not disturb her - doing so equals instant incapication if she gets you. The intro movie does a great job of solidifying all this information so it all feels pretty familiar when you first start out.


The sound design in this game is deep and well thought out. All of these boss/elite infected all have their audio cues, plus even if they are missed, the survivors themselves will often announce them for you - and soon enough you'll be calling them out too. The music swells to indicate an incoming swarm plus the vocals of the four characters and the interchange between them are very entertaining. Drums beat when a roaring tank bursts out and the haunting melody coupled by crying indicates a Witch is close and gets stronger as you dare to get closer. Clicking in the left thumb stick will get your survivor to announce what they can see, whether that be a Boomer, weapons or even another survivor. When doing this with your other players, your player will shout their name if they are a fair distance away, and not if they're much closer, again it's these kind of minutia which make the game so polished. A fun departure we've developed is announcing Bill's name - I don't know why but it's hilarious - give it a try and let's spread this thing...


Players are able to carry 2 types of weapons, the 1st weapon being the pistol which has unlimited ammo (a 2nd pistol can be found to dual wield - although remember it's still the one trigger and not both like in Halo which I accidentally did my first time with it), the 2nd weapon can be a choice from a shotgun, machine gun or rifle, and this ammo is limited, but more can be found, along with gun upgrades, along the way. Players can also carry one health pack (restores majority of one's health), one projectile (more in a moment) and one lot of "pills" which offer a temporary health boost. Players can either carry a molotov cocktail or a pipe bomb, which zombies are attracted to the noise and light and then blow up taking out a large number.

The game itself actively rewards co-operative behaviour; if one person breaks off from the others, whether that be leaping ahead out of impatience, or being left behind, the game will punish that survivor, so it really is an "all for one" mentality, which everyone needs to adhere to in order to make it through. All players are able to heal themselves and more importantly heal each other. Pain pills which offer a temporary health boost can also be shared with other players. When other players have been knocked down or being pinned by a hunter or smoker, you can rush to their aid to help them back on their feet - but do it quick, once a player has been knocked down they are on borrowed time and very close to death. The beauty of the game is in its ability to induce panic even when there may not actually be that many zombies running at you. Holding down the trigger as you try and mow the advancing numbers down and your accuracy will suffer, which only adds to the panic as you begin to struggle to clear these zombies.

If the group stays in one place then don't think the game will cut you a break, the horns will soon sound and a swarm will be on its way.

Probably the biggest selling point of the game is the AI Director that serves to vary the experience every time mixed with these simple mechanics detailed above. The majority of the game's encounters are unscripted so it's not possible to learn what's going to be beyond the next corner and so forth - the AI Director will mix it up every time, throwing a swarm of zombies at you during one playthrough, and spawning a tank at the same point on the next playthrough. If your team is struggling then the director will ease up on the zombie swarms and offer more ammo and health. If the group stays in one place then don't think the game will cut you a break, the horns will soon sound and a swarm will be on its way.

Extra little options which again cement my opinion of how polished this game is are the option to call a vote in mid-game in order to change the difficulty, go back to the lobby, or kick a player as they keep running off/startling the witch. Also it's possible to take a break and the AI will take over. There are always the four characters (unless there have been deaths...) and the AI will take over (and sometimes do a better job).

Along with the campaign mode, the game also offers a Versus Mode where you get the opportunity to play as the infected. Four survivors play against four infected and it's the ultimate griefing mode. The learning curve is a quite steep at first when playing the infected, it takes a moment to work out how to maximise each infected's ability, plus you are taken out with one good shot most of the time, so it's best to plan and coordinate with your other zombie buddies. Once this initial slump is overcome, the game is terribly rewarding and strangely always fun to give the survivors a hard time. I found it best to take cues from where the AI director spawns the zombies, so Smokers go on rooftops, Boomers hide round corners and jump out to vomit etc. The game randomly selects either boomer, hunter or smoker as the infected that you spawn as, the witch is not an option (rightly so) and the option as spawning as a tank crops up most once a level and is awarded to one player, so that's always very cool, although it's never myself enough it seems. The versus mode scores the survivor team after each round, multipliers are awarded for the number that make it to the safehouse - despite this the playstyle seems to be at a quickened pace to give the infected team less chance to screw them over. After each round, the teams swap over and go again.

The main life in the game I think is the versus mode and also chasing the harder achievements in the campaign, such as completing all four on expert (very hard!)


Perhaps the only downside of the game is the fact that while the game's placement of the infected changes every time, the campaign setting is limited to the current four offerings, and it is this reason why some may feel that there's not much game here. I personally feel there it is enough, the number of hours I've clocked up should be proof of that. Plus, Valve are very good at supporting their games, and forthcoming DLC has been announced. This DLC will offer to play the other two campaigns in Versus mode and also a new Survival mode - no details have been announced but it's the next best thing after a fifth campaign which is what everyone, myself included, were hoping for. Despite it not coming in this first DLC pack, there's hope that more DLC will be released in the future.

Left 4 Dead was actually released last November, and I'm prepared to make it my Game of the Year for 2008. It is a true co-operative experience which I've not found in other games that boast a co-op option. I would repeat my sentiments at the very top, this is best played with others and soon you'll be crafting your ultimate zombie team in preparation for when the real undead apocalypse comes...

Read full post >>

#15 Race Driver: GRID

This is a belated review, but I finally managed to get round to giving Race Driver: GRID (or just Grid as the cool kids are calling it) a go, and for a racing game fan such as myself it was exciting to try out a new IP over the established heavyweights in the genre.
GRID is actually from the same people that brought you TOCA and the Colin McRae: DIRT (that seems a lot of capitals...) but was this game worth my 8 month wait?

First off, this game's front end-menus are incredibly slick. Upon loading the game you are offered with chunky 3D text that floats in your garage. This style carries over into the races themselves and is used very effectively when a particular driver is highlighted before the start as the cars line up on the grid by what I can assume to be your race engineer/voice in your head. More about the voiceovers later.


The game offers a career mode (more about that later), a freeplay mode where you can set up a custom race and of course multiplayer. Unfortunately, the online community has pretty much dried up upon playing now, but it does offer a voting system for those players in the lobby to pick the next race which is a cool alternative to the game generating a random race, or having specific lobbies for the differing race types. Anyways, let's concentrate on the single-player and in particular the career mode where you are most likely to spend most of your time...

The first step in the career mode (called Race Day) has yourself accept offers to drive for other teams in order to raise cash needed to start your own team. The main focus is running your own team, improving its reputation, attracting new sponsors and eventually expanding to accommodate another driver to race for you.

Once you hit this early landmark, progress through the career is very conventional. The career is spread across 3 continents - North America, Europe and Asia (predominantly Japan) - the progress on each continent is separate and broken into three tiers. Participating in events earns you reputation, which goes towards acquiring new racing licences which unlock the higher tiers, and also money which is used to purchase new cars and sign a better teammate.
As more racing licences are acquired, new events open up which offer greater rewards and exposure to better and faster cars - there are no surprises here.
A great feature in the career mode is the ability to acquire sponsors and palce their branding of your car. Each sponsor has a condition which if satisfied will pay out a bonus, much in the way that there is a bonus attributed to each driver offer available. At first, the conditions are pretty easy to meet - "finish the race" or "finish the race greater than 7th" but as the sponsors' bonus increase, so do the difficulty of these conditions, some only paying out if you win the race or to go to the extreme, will only pay out if you win without taking any damage - that's a toughie

GRID offers a number of different event types. From street races to grand prix race tracks; from head-to-heads to demolition derbies and drift challenges - the variety helps keep the racing fresh and a lot of different disciplines are covered. At the end of each season, participating in the Le Mans event is an option - initially driver offers from other teams are the only option until you can raise the funds to purchase your own Le Mans prototypes. The Le Mans event itself lasts 24 minutes and it's a shame that the trackside environment looks pretty sparse, although the transition from day to night and back again is a unique challenge.


For the events themselves, a really useful game mechanic can be found in the form of flashbacks. These allow you to pause the race at any time, rewind up to 30 seconds or so to erase your mistake and give it another go. This is especially useful when you have just written your car off in the wall, or have given away 1st place by screwing up on the last corner. It's also super convenient that access to the flashback is mapped to the back button, access is easy enough to become a reflex and is not hidden away behind menus.


Under the hood (geddit!), and the core game is not much more than a just above average racer. The game avoids the depth and minutia of Forza 2 and the differing handling of the cars doesn't even compare with that of PGR4. With regards to the handling, a lot of the cars feel very samey and more often than not suffer from oversteer, especially at slow speeds to the point that it feels unnatural.

While the game is lacking in car handling compared to PGR4, GRID injects more personality thanks in part to the voiceovers I mentioned earlier. PGR4 named all the drivers, gave them nationalities, and presumably different characteristics (although it was very difficult to tell), but it failed to humanize my AI opponents. Luckily GRID does offer more immersion, with each driver having attributes defined in skill, aggressiveness etc and also a potential preference for a particular discipline.

Under the hood and the core game is not much more than a just above average racer.

Back to the voiceovers, and at the start of the race, your race engineer will highlight a particular driver or team that could be a threat in the race. The same race engineer will give you constant updates during the race, letting you know who is currently in the lead, if there have been accidents and also updates on your position. If you reach the status of having a teammate, your race engineer will inform you how they are doing, and you will also get updates from your teammate as well. The teammates offer that personality, my first teammate was a whiny Italian who I eventually replaced with a stoned American surfer dude. It's little touches like this which enrich the experience so you're not just going through the motions.
Possibly the most notable and immersing hook is the ability to select your name from a list when you first fire up the game. Both your race engineer and the very attractive sounding woman that greets you when firing the game will use the name/nick you've selected - again, another great little touch. Don't worry, if your name isn't it their pre-defined lists, they do offer a number of nicknames as a next best thing - if only you could combine them into a super-duper nickname...


The AI opponents in the game are pretty impressive - when following two or more that are in close proximity to each other it's refreshing to see them realistically scrapping for position, and not following a set line like a number of racers are guilty of. The AI is prone to mistakes, often after being hounded by someone close behind, they'll often slide, skid and sometimes completely spin out - which all adds to the realism and helps give a sense that you're not just racing against 7 bots.

Overall, GRID is an OK-to-good arcade racer, a case of more style than substance. That being said, features like the flashbacks and the voiceover work help this game stand out from the crowd - there's a lot of enjoyment to be had here but it does get a bit samey after a while.

Read full post >>

#14 I need a Civ Rev here!

Apologies, that's a very dubious play on words used for a title. I am referring to the game Civ Rev, or Civilization Revolution to give it its full title. This is the latest iteration of the popular Civilization series and the first to appear on consoles, hence the "Revolution" in the name.

For those not in the know, Civilization is a turn based strategy game where you are the leader of one of 16 famous civilizations (Caesar for the Romans, Cleopatra for the Egyptians, Queen Elizabeth for the British etc), and you are tasked with developing and improving your civilization, befriending other civilizations, eliminating others, and guiding your civilization towards one of the four victory conditions. Those being Economic (Building the World Bank), Democratic (Constructing the United Nations), Space (Building a craft that reaches Alpha Centauri) or Domination (Eliminating all other Civilizations from the World Map). Now Civ Rev is based on Civilization 4 (the most recent PC release), but has been simplified and streamlined to create a simpler and faster version of the game, no doubt to suit the console player that prefers a shorter experience, because of a shorter attention span maybe?...



The game primarily involves adding buildings to cities, creating wonders, even creating new cities and roads to link them up, not to mention units used to defend your own cities and attack others. As to be expected, different buildings offer specific attributes, like the ability to increase production or gold etc - these kind of mechanics have been forged long ago so there are no big surprises but the interface makes it very easy to mange build queues, production priorities.

Always with real-time strategy/turn-based strategy games, the control scheme is very important and especially with the PC pedigree the game has, there is a lot of stake here. Fortunately with the simplified gameplay, the controls work extremely well on the controller – if anything, the fact that the game is turn-based lends itself very well to the consoles.

it is so very easy and comfortable to drop into the “just one more turn” mentality

Whether it be moving units around the map, browsing buildings to potentially build or switching between cities is all incredibly straightforward, although navigation can get a little laggy towards the end of the game when the map is much more densely populated.

The game could also be considered a "Revolution" in terms of its graphical style. Civ Rev has taken a departure from the realism of the numbered games on the PC and uses a cartoony style, in particular the advisers/toons which appear during the game. They are charming enough but their verbal uttering in a made-up language akin to the Sims really started to grate, and I often reach for the OK button. The actual graphics are pretty average compared with current gen expectations but does fit the cartoony style well.

Battle animations are enjoyable to watch and a strange compulsion comes over wishing the little buggers on - although the cartwheeling planes do look a little daft, especially when facing other planes. Towards the end of the game when the map is full of cities and switching between them zooms out the map (you do get to see the curvature of the world which is quite cool) and this blue fog-of-war appears until it finishes zooms in. There is also some pop in as well which is a disappointment considering the level of graphical quality.


The sign of any great game is how difficult it is to put down. I probably sound like a broken record but the quickened gameplay is completely responsible – it is so very easy and comfortable to drop into the “just one more turn” mentality. Even though the game has been tailored for shorter play sessions, I often found myself completing a game from start to finish in one or two sittings.

Ultimately the game is a lot of fun but can get repetitive after a while. For each civilization, there are unique bonuses to be had when you progress through the different eras, but these usually become a formality when you reach the modern era. The Xbox 360 version was the one I tried and, predictably, there is an achievement for winning with each civilization, so if you care for them then they're an incentive to continue playing. The difficulty can be increased and this only serves to increase the aggressiveness of the AI opponents.


Speaking of the AI opponents, they lean heavily towards the aggressive and hostile end of the spectrum – Often alliances formed a mere handful of turns ago become threats of annihilation. With the randomly generated maps, your game can sometimes be doomed if your starting position is a little too close to another civilization. Also, a small peeve, but I found it terribly annoying that the AI could effectively hold me to ransom by offering X turns of peace in exchange for an important technology that I had spent a long time researching, but it seems not possible for me to do the same back – not fair!

Like a high percentage of this generation's games, the online play ensures its longevity. Playing online is exactly the same as playing a standard game against the AI. Players will compete on a random map with Barbarian villages, lost artifacts etc and the unpredictability of playing with other real life people can be very interesting and introduce a level of strategy that has perhaps been removed from the game, provided of course that the players stay in the game. Yes, Civ Rev games are now shorter but they can still easily stretch to a couple of hours, especially when waiting for the other human players to finish their turns.

I was immediately gripped by the demo when it was released and was very keen to play the full version ever since. After finally getting the game, I am very happy to sink a few hours into this - I've found it's very useful to play while I listen to one of the longer podcasts I subscribe to as there are no crucial story cutscenes to pay attention to, or online friends/players to chat to as I go. Whilst each civilization receives a unique bonus at the turn of each era, the playstyle is predominantly the same for every civ.


With Civ Rev, whilst the game is a lot of fun, the meat of the game is apparent from the get go - there are no plot twists, there are no climactic events, it's all very samey, which while enjoyable in brief playthroughs, has had to give away to other games thanks to the depth in quality of releases recently.

Read full post >>

#13 The Dark Side

So I finally caved and got myself a PS3, woah! The last time I had two consoles was the Gamecube and the Xbox, and well I quickly stopped using my Gamecube oh dear! That outcome is unlikely to happen in this case, Xbox 360 has the better first party (and exclusive) titles, and any multiplatform releases I would get for the 360, considering the superior online experience, and how in a lot of cases (not so much now) the PS3 version has just been a port of the 360 version.

That being said, the PS3 does have some pluses. For one, the dashboard is slick as fuck - not to mention supremely easy and quick to navigate, it makes the 360 dash look old and clunky in comparison. That will of course all change when the New Xbox Experience drops in November, but until then the PS3 comes out on top.
Also a big motivation for getting one is of course Blu-Ray playback - I haven't watched one yet, but I've already converted my LoveFilm queue ready (EDIT: I watched Gotham Knight, the collection of animated Batman shorts akin to the Animatrix, in brief, some stories very cool, some not so much). DVDs look great thanks to the upscaling, plus the PS3 can handle a wider range of media files, so I have to convert video podcasts, TV shows etc a lot less. It has wireless connectivity built in by default, and even some large files (a HD version of a very recent Heroes ep for example) played absolutely fine. Plus if streaming is getting a little choppy, the dash offers the option to copy the file onto the PS3 HDD, problem solved.

That being said, I have had some problems with syncing the controller to the console. I've experienced whole days where upon pressing the "PS" button on the controller (their equivalent of the 360's guide button), and literally nothing happened - no flashing lights, nothing. It's possible that the battery had ran out of charge, but it seemed incredibly problematic charging up the damn thing. As it's a USB cable, it can be charged off the PS3, or indeed any computer (even some cable boxes I read), but I was not getting the slow flash to indicate charging. Late one day, I pressed the PS button just to see what would happen, and it switched on the console - it took me completely by surprise, I had to run and connect up the cable like it was the only chance I was going to get.
Thoughts on the controller itself, it's light, much lighter than the 360 controller (no chunky battery) although I'm not a fan of the triggers - they don't feel at all comfortable. I haven't had a chance to utilise the sixaxis motion controls; The Force Unleashed didn't have any mechanics within which utilised it, and that brings me smoothly onto some thoughts of my first PS3 title eva!!!11one1.

Now, the Force Unleashed's premise is where you play the super badass, secret apprentice of Darth Vader, Starkiller (wasn't that the original name for Skywalker, or did I read a bad trivia fact?!), set between Episodes III and IV, and will hopefully fill in the gaps between the two trilogies, but more about of the story later.

The only time I would die would be due to the annoying knock back onto bottomless pits, where Starkiller would animate getting to his feet, before realising where he was and in trademark Wile E. Coyote fashion, fall to his doom.

I've heard murmurs that this has been the most expensive game ever developed (I don't believe that's the case...), and it's an absolute must have for die-hard Star Wars fans. To be honest they're the main driving reason why the franchise is still knocking about, and whilst I really like the original trilogy (not so much the recent films), my nostalgia gland tingles on familiar locales in the game, not to mention the rousing fanfares that ebb and flow throughout the game. Unfortunately once you look past all of that, an average hack 'n' slash game is all that is found.

All the force powers you'd expect are included, force grip, push and lightning are at your disposal, and can be leveled up via three simplistic categories. The categories also allow you to purchase new lightsaber combos, and also buff your character with increased health, improved force regeneration etc. That being said, this RPG mechanic didn't leave the impression that I was developing a unique spin on Starkiller. The first level of the game sees you play a pimped out Darth Vader, sporting all the force powers at their maximum levels, it was a lot of fun tearing through the Wookie habitat - following that level, you begin the adventure with a nerfed Starkiller and you have to work your way back up to that level; what a tease.

The mechanics are very button mashy - there's not much strategy required here. A lot of the times, I run up to a group, work some force push/lightning and finish up with some lightsaber. Lightning is pretty much the standard point of attack, stunning pretty much every enemy in the game. That invites you to take the time to go to town with the lightsaber, or fling the smaller troops far with the force grip for instant kills. In fact, all this power becomes destabilising after a while. I actually never "properly" died in my playthrough. The only time I would die would be due to the annoying knock back onto bottomless pits, where Starkiller would animate getting to his feet, before realising where he was and in trademark Wile E. Coyote fashion, fall to his doom. Perhaps I was playing on too easy a difficulty and coupled with the health boosts you acquire through leveling, low health was never a problem. It was very consistent that my attack animations could be interrupted and that the enemies' animations couldn't - especially the 10 foot tall elite troopers later on (I've never seen those in a Star Wars film...)

Of course, the force allows you to double-jump, but it feels horrible and difficult to control. I was constantly caught out on the later levels which add a verticality to proceedings. Also walking off platforms meant that Starkiller falls directly down rather than retaining some forward motion as real physics dictates should happen, which for a game that boasts great physics, doesn't actually have any groundbreaking innovations. I never saw evidence of stormtroopers held in a force grip trying to grab their surroundings - as the game progresses, the difficulty ramps up by throwing more enemies your way so there wasn't much chance to observe.



The story of the game is probably the best thing about this game, but the story only exists in the cutscenes that separate the levels. I won't spoilt it here, but I did experience a disconnect with the dialogue early on in the game, but the story cleared that up in a rather predictable fashion. I'm annoyed at the love story that was shoehorned in - again completely needless and very clunky considering the storytelling experience the Lucas camp have. The levels themselves are exact copies of each other, the environment the only thing changes. Get ready to button-mash your way through waves and waves of enemies, the odd sub-boss mixing it up, before you reach the end encounter versus a master Jedi of some kind.

Be warned; when it comes to the boss fights, get used to coming up against good ol' quick time events. With the sub-boss/elite units you encounter throughout the level, an optional quick event sequence will be offered for a quick takedown when their health is low. Unfortunately, with the boss battles, these QTEs are mandatory. I wouldn't mind that much for two reasons: The first being that, the button presses you have to match are the same every time, so even if you're slow with the reactions, you'll soon commit them to memory. Also, once you've initiated the QTE, you're not getting out of it, so if you slip up, it resets back to the beginning, along with the accompanying FMV - "hey didn't you throw the junkrock at me, just a moment ago?!"

Speaking of QTEs and the buildup of this game, saw a trailer where Starkiller pulls a Star Destroyer out of the sky and crashing down to the Sith's feet. That was very cool. Sadly, the set-piece in the game does not approach anywhere near the level of coolness that it should have been. Some tedious analogue stick action separated by waves of tie fighters to interrupt the flow. It was only very frustrating as the tie fighters proved very hard to destroy, that is until I discovered that the only some can be destroyed on the left by using force grip, whilst others could only be zapped by force lightning on the right, very annoying, anyone else get this?

Overall, not a great experience, and nothing in it that made me want to repeat at harder difficulties. The story is the only redeeming feature of the game, although the fanboys will check this out through rose-tinted glasses. So my first PS3 game was not a keeper - in that time I did order Metal Gear Solid 4 which I will play through once I've gone through the current crop of Xbox 360 games that are begging me to play. I traded The Force Unleashed in for £18 and then paid the difference to get Civilization Revolution, a game of which I literally can't put down now, despite Fable 2's main quest screaming out for attention; a review will be on the way. The bundle deal I got The Force Unleashed meant that the game worked out as £10, so if only financially, I believe I've broken even, maybe even come out a little on top.

Also post #100, woah! Here's to another 100.

Read full post >>

#12 Soul Calibur IV

The next step towards myself renting Civilization Revolution took a little detour and with me changing my lovefilm plan to save a bit of money, Soul Calibur IV will be my last rented game for the foreseeable future. The reason being there are the likes of Fable 2 and Fallout 3, huge RPGs that I'll lose many a hour to, not to mention other upcoming releases like Gears of War 2. Then, factor in some of the games I've yet to really play through, Grand Theft Auto 4, The Orange Box, Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise, and it's obvious that I won't have the time to continue renting games that I'm interested in, just not enough to purchase. It's a shame that the last one of these is Soul Calibur IV...

Now, one point I need to stress, and probably the most important thing to take away from this, is that I don't like fighting games. Now that may be a result of me being generally poor at them which I'll get on to later - consequently this "review-of-sorts" will probably be on the short side.

Before I tear apart the mechanics and all the "different modes" of the game, a quick note on the visuals. With fighting games the immediate foreground is the only area of concern and with this being a relatively small area to render, fighting games have always been very beautiful and Soul Calibur is no exception. All of your (presumably) favourite characters are back along with a couple of new characters, including some Star Wars stars (see later...)

Pick a dude and fight a different dude. Sometimes you may have 2,3 or even 4 dudes in a row to kill, and you may be lucky to have one (or more) backup dude, repeat ad infinitum.

One notable feature of this game is the character creator, something I looked into after giving the story and arcade modes a quick go. Although it's understandable, the character you create is effectively a re-skinned clone of one of the existing characters in-game. There's not the option to build your own move-list unfortunately. Despite that, the look of your character is very customisable, and new weapons, clothes, accessories are unlocked as you make progress through the game. That being said once I had made a half-naked, busty chick with a squeaky voice, my interest in the character creator had subsided so I moved back into the main game.

So Soul Calibur offers a number of modes: Story, Arcade, Tower of Souls and then there's the online play as well, but in reality all this is the same thing over and over again. Pick a dude and fight a different dude. Sometimes you may have 2,3 or even 4 dudes in a row to kill, and you may be lucky to have one (or more) backup dude, repeat ad infinitum.

The main reason I don't like these style of games is the the tedium of going through looking up a character's move list, returning to the game and I'm there staring at the pad trying to perfect the diagonally-down X, X, Y move and getting frustrated that my character is instead performing the forward X, X move every time. Add to that the time spent looking at the pad trying to get the timing down, only to miss the AI character take off 50% of my health - it does not lead to an enjoyable experience.
If I ever pull off a very cool looking move, it really is a fluke and whilst the more extravagant combos do reward you with better looking and more damaging moves, I can never repeat them again - and that is more of a reflection of my own "playstyle", not necessarily a flaw with the game.

Something I can't stand about this genre are the pre-fight exchanges and Soul Calibur is no exception. Expect your character to taunt their opponent "I will have victory" or "get outta of my way!" are prime examples, or seemingly random lines - I find it hard to take seriously, and it's something which could easily be dropped. Are these build-up cutscenes there to build "drama" or are they masking loading times? Speaking of which, the game has surprisingly long loading times - definitely a game that will benefit from the "rip to hard drive" feature coming in the new dashboard, sorry the New Xbox Experience, sorry my bad...

Moving on and the game also boasts the inclusion of characters from Star Wars. The Apprentice from the recent The Force Unleashed game and Yoda (Xbox 360) or Darth Vader (PS3) are the included cast. There's no way to convince me of a cohesive story why these guys are in the Soul Calibur Universe. I played through the story with Yoda for the achievement, there was something about a rift caused by the force that teleported Yoda through, WTF?! The apprentice seems a little overpowered during my play through, he was consistently the roadblock I hit during the Arcade, plus his mutterings of "kill" and "die!" were pretty lame - maybe that's why I lost my concentration and subsequently the bouts...

It sounds like I really ripped into this game and I'll reiterate what I said at the start "I don't like fighting games". I have friends who are fans of the genre and the Soul Calibur series so I could just be a button-mashing idiot that can't handle more than four buttons. The test comes to how often you come back to playing the game and with this being a rented game, I wanted to get my monies worth, but every time I loaded up the game, the same mechanic stared back at me, only with increasingly sophisticated AI which can easily trounce my very "one-dimensional button-mash and hope for the best" mentality. Whilst I usually try a rented game for a week, (sometimes longer) I had to cut it short as there was nothing in this game for me that enticed me back.

Read full post >>

#11 Burnout Paradise

It should be clichéd when entering Paradise City, the new latest open-world iteration in the Burnout franchise, the Guns 'n' Roses hit of the same name plays in the background, but it's really not, it just feels right. The core mechanics are still here; the boosting, quick reaction swerving through traffic, takedowns and the exhilirating sense of speed which no-other racer can seem to match, only this time the idea is full immersion, all the front end menus are gone - you press start and you're dropped straight into the city.

Now Burnout sits firmly at the arcade end of the scale of racers, hell they don't even include a speedo on the HUD. Each intersection in the game marks the start of a particular event. Simply stop at the lights, hit both triggers and you're straight in. A quick voiceover from DJ Atomica (replacement of DJ Crash?) explains the brief of the event. More often than not it will be a race from the intersection you stopped at to one of eight points on the city. At first glance it seems cheap that there so few finish lines to drive toward, but having these handful of persistent landmarks means that soon you'll be fine-tuning your routes and finding those useful shortcuts. This is where the open world setting comes in to its own - there is no defined route you have to take, you are given the start and finish points and anything inbetween is upto you. The direction of the finish is given as a compass bearing, and the game will offer up recommended turns but there's no obligation to take them.

The core mechanics are still here; the boosting, quick reaction swerving through traffic, takedowns and the exhilirating sense of speed which no-other racer can seem to match

At first, hurtling through traffic, battling as well as holding off your opponents (takedowns still count!) and having to cope with trying to plot your route and decipher the extra information can be daunting. In fact, that's the main reason why I was put off by the demo, a popular consensus apparently. Playing the full game, it's a much more enjoyable experience. It's probably a good time as any to mention the graphics of the game. Put simply the game is beautiful in all of its HDR lighted glory. Draw distance is very good which helps to see those cars fast approaching, and the frame rate is probably the most impressive of all - never dropping in my time with it, something that is very important to give that blistering sense of speed.

I do have some reservations. During the first few events there is a longing to open up the menu and hit restart if it's not going too well, but it is understandable that would break the metaphor of this open persistent world. That's something I'll accept but I wish there was an abort option. A couple of times I've missed a crucial corner, lost a lot of time and know that I am resigned to finishing 7th or 8th, but the event has to be completed no matter what to let you back into the open world - it's a small complaint. A popular mode from previous titles was of course the crash junctions and they have all but disappeared unfortunately. There are time attack records held on every road (another extra to keep you busy) and there are crash records (amount of money in damages) on the intersections but they are completely optional which is a shame.

As strange as it sounds, I want to draw comparisons with WoW so bear with me. After finishing an event, successful or not, there is usually another event to complete nearby - that's what I found so addictive about WoW, with travelling between quest hubs, there is always one more quest that's ready to be started, and the same applies to Paradise. And if there are no events available, there are all the extra non-event stuff to do, so the game's momentum never lets up. Finding all the smashboards and the destructable billboards are a welcome distraction if the racing gets too stressful, not to mention the super jumps to be found throughout the city. Unlocking of most new cars takes the form of a challenge where by you have to takedown the car in question, a lot of fun to be had chasing that shiny new model and a real sense of accomplishment - completely different from being handed many cars after finishing a single race which the series has been guilty of in the past.

I spent only the briefest amount of time online during the time I had with this title, but what I saw was very cool (not to mention the generous handing out of achievements for my short duration :D). Along with the front end menus being chucked, there is no lobby screen as such, the city itself becomes the lobby where you are free to explore or more commonly smash up others. Soon enough the host will decide an event and off you go. An effort has been made to make the whole experience streamlined, there is of course the aforementioned triggering of events, jumping onto an online match is literally a quick flick of the D-pad away and there's the repair depots, fuel stations, paint shops and junkyards which keep the menus at bay.

In closing, a mention has to be made of the post-release development of the game. A few weeks before I got my hands on the game, they released the "Cagney" update, a large, completely free update which adds literally hundreds of extra online challenges and irons out some of the creases no doubt. I can't say how the game was before but the commitment to putting in all the extra content really does boost the longevity of Paradise. Soon to be added are bikes into the mix (I'm gonna hold off on a PGR4 tie-in rant...) as well as day/night cycles, where the nighttime comes with a high number of unique challenges.

If you are a fan of racing sims, then this probably isn't the game for you. On the other hand if you like your racing very quick and dirty and have the reactions that will have your eyes out on stalks then look this one up. It's no secret that I love my racing games and if you like them too then I strongly recommend Burnout Paradise.

Read full post >>

#10 Bully

Still hoping to get Civilization: Revolution as my next rented game, but instead I received Bully this time. More accurately I should say Bully: Scholarship Edition, as this is a "beefed up" conversion from the original PS2 game. Now this is one of the original games (along with Dead Rising) that I put on the "games" queue for LoveFilm - it has been one of the games which came along, I said I'd give it a try, but it must have been a busy period or I was short of cash or something as it's been a long time since it's release.

Now it might be quite lazy to say that Bully is GTA set in a school, but in a nutshell that's essentially it.It is made by Rockstar also, but actually the Vancouver studio rather than Rockstar North who are famously responsible for the GTA series.
The presentation is just like GTA, down to the style of the mini-map (curiously the health meter is very reminiscent of GTA4, which came much after this game - one idea that went the other way), the construction and pacing of the cut scenes, even down to how the camera works during tutorial set pieces and how the helpful popup text looks.

Bully was surrounded with a lot of controversy pending its release, not unlike the scrutiny that the GTA games have received. Many believed that it would glorify bullying in schools and promote it as a positive image. Thanks to this controversy, the game sold pretty well and actually the game does not in fact give the above message, the story in fact offers a flipside where you partner up with the less popular cliches in the school and help them overcome the jocks and bullies.

So following in the same mould as GTA , there are the multiple mission-based storylines dotted throughout the school and later the nearby town. That being said, the sandbox in Bully is not quite upto par with the GTA series, there is scope to annoy fellow students with the variety of "mischief" weapons such as laying marbles to trip them, stink bombs, itching powder etc, but it does feel very limited and only serves to be a short-lived distraction.

Adding to the now tried and tested formula are the idea of Classes which you attend a the school. These take the form of short mini-games which more often than not are quicktime events which rely on well timed button presses that scroll on screen. The only mini-game I struggled on was English class (embarrassingly) which takes the form of a word jumble where you have to construct as many words as possible from a set of letters in the time allotted - I was not able to pass that class after the couple goes I had *shakes head*. They are a welcome relief from the free-roaming mission-based storyline, but are rather too simplistic to gain any real joy from them.

The GTA comparison has been done to death but we're almost through. Like in GTA, Bully does use a number of varied gameplay mechanics including sneaking sections a la Splinter Cell/Metal Gear Solid, Some first person action with the slingshot and some driving sections in the go-karts. Now, each of these sections in isolation do not hold up against titles which specialise in that genre, but just like GTA, Bully is more than the sum of its parts - the many options that the game offers a varying experience along the lengthy journey to completion.

The game is a lot of fun but is ultimately let down by a poor conversion. A lot of the graphics are lo-res and look down right ugly in HD, plus there are frame rate issues for a lot of the game. If these can be overlooked, then Bully is a deep enough experience to derive some enjoyment from it. I only had the game for about a week and I made it approx 25-30% through the game, and I didn't bother much with all the optional missions. Not to mention there is a multiplayer option where a friend can jump into your game which I didn't try out, I am not sure how much they can help your story progress - most likely is that it's like the 2 player option in previous GTA titles where you are both limited to the confines of the single screen and you cause havoc as you see fit.

Overall, Bully is good, not great. If open-world sandbox games are your thing then look it up, Rockstar are kings of the genre and whilst this is the not their best (a different studio probably being the main reason behind that, no Rockstar North magic), it is certainly a good offering and an interesting take on the genre , not featuring any guns, gangsters or serious crimes.

Read full post >>

#9 Lost by name, Lost by nature

So I altered my LoveFilm queue to introduce games back into the mix. I have about 10 games in the "games" queue (how did I ever come up with that name?!), most are to boost my gamerscore with easy achievements and others are games which I've been meaning to try but don't really want to fork out the cash for. Now, what I was hoping to get was the new Civilization Revolutions, but instead I got Lost: Via Domus.

Now, first off this game is unsuitable for anyone who is not a fan of Lost. I will also say that you're got to be pretty familiar with the main events of the story, because this game visits them but does not explain a lot of the exposition required to fully understand how the people in the fiction got from A to B. I'll try and keep the spoilers down but no promises.

So first off, what genre does the Lost game fall into? I hear you cry. Well it probably fits under the RPG category, although part of me wants to be bold and say it's reminiscent of the point and click adventures of yesteryear but more about that later.

Imagine if a secondary school student wrote some really bad fan fiction set in the Lost universe and that is the level of sophistication we're talking here

Speaking of yesteryear, that links me smoothly onto the visuals, and there is something horribly prev-gen about this game. Granted the environments are adequately rendered, nothing amazing for this generation, and technically quite small and constrictive, get ready to meet your old friend, Mr invisible wall.
Moving on, and the main motivation for playing the game is of course the excitement brought about from being dropped into the Lost universe. Want to play Jack or Kate? Bad luck I'm sorry, you play some side character just to ensure that the plot laid out in the TV show remains untouched.
Looking at the characters in more depth, and this is where you would hope the game would excel, capturing the likeness and personality of the characters you've all enjoying watching. Sadly, that isn't the case. To be fair the characters in-game are recognisable against their real-life counterparts, but a lot more work could have been put in, particularly with the animation of the characters; the horrible head bobs and jerky hand/arm gestures accompany every sentence, and don't get me started on the speech. As if I haven't knocked this poor game enough already, the game creators were not able to get all the original voice talent, the actual dialogue in this game is terribly woeful. Imagine if a secondary school student wrote some really bad fan fiction set in the Lost universe and that is the level of sophistication we're talking here. It might be an unfair comparison but the game is similar in pacing to Mass Effect, where there are extended conversation sections and then action set-pieces. Where Mass Effect has some of the most realistic facial animations, sophisticated dialogue trees and genuinely deep and interesting characters, Lost has none. It's pretty lame (but useful when in a hurry), that there is a tab of dialogue options which will guarantee that your progress in the current episode moves ahead. Don't bother with the other crap...

Hilariously there was this interchange where I was asking Sawyer to trade, and he would first go: "Do you want to trade or what? I haven't got all day?" ...to which I cancelled and Sawyer departs saying, "I'm here all day." WTF. Little screwy.

Your character is a journalist, I won't go into any more detail for those who still want to play after how I slated it just, but it does allow for some photo-taking gameplay - the most interesting of which being the flashbacks where you have to snap the correct photo from a torn up photograph. Shame, it is a little too easy, especially when the flashbacks last about a minute and you seemingly have as many do-overs as you need. Other noteworthy photo opportunities are clearly signposted by the object being labelled with a button press and some popup text "...might be worth photo..." - you're right!

The other core gameplay revolves around some action! yeah! The parts in between the hatch, black rock etc involve moving from marker to marker and have them point out the direction you need to travel, so there's no real exploration of the island. There's also the black smoke you come across, and in the tamer moments, you simply hop into the large reeds to hide - it was used like once or twice in the show so that's enough justification to have many of these spots equidistant from each other, how convenient! The action really hots up in the "chase scenes" which actually is very reminiscent of Crash Bandicoot levels I remember from the PS one days. You have the option to either jump a log or slide under a err... log. The only difference between this and Crash is that you're running away from the camera and not into it, so it's even easier, sigh.

I've slated the game, but there are *a few* pluses. If you can get over the bad writing, then this is technically the best Lost game out there (as it's the only one!), so for super die-hard fans that want to absorb anything Lost related, then this is a must have. When starting each new episode, the game offers a flashback FMV sequence, very much like the show, especially with the immortal slow-floating "LOST" moving close and eventually past the camera - the presentation here is very slick so that's pretty cool. The main character Elliot (mini-spoiler) has had a lot of attention, particularly facially, and is therefore arguably the best modelled character, it's a shame that the characters you actually care about haven't had as much care taken.

In closing, The game is pretty thin on the ground, and probably lives up to the low expectations which are given to licenced games like these. Being a fan of Lost, I had to give it a try, again not expecting a great deal. I could go on but in short the writing's a bit sucky, the game mechanics very simple, but look it as a fairly comfortable 900-1000 achievement points as I did and you might actually come away with something from it.

Read full post >>

#8 (Not so) Beautiful Katamari

For a week I had the chance to play Beautiful Katamari for about a week. I only got one or two evenings to give the game a chance - I had only just received the instruments for Rock Band, the sunday before :s.

For those not in the know, the premise of the game is to take a "Katamari", essentially a ball which everything sticks to, and roll it about collecting other objects to increase the diameter of the ball/katamari, with each level giving you a target diameter to work towards. When you start out, you can only roll over very small objects, but as your Katamari increases in size, so too do the objects you can now collect, and this leads to an exponential growth - the first metre seems to take an age, but the following metres come thick and fast.

Right, let's get down to the nitty gritty, the game itself is very original, I've certainly not played a game like it. That being said, there have been previous games on older consoles which have done principally the same. I did actually believe that the game had been ported from an old console version gamecube/ps2 etc but the 360 version is actually a seperate game in it's own right.

Having to navigate my silly wide-headed character to a load/save house in the level hub is frankly lame and felt terribly backwards.

I only thought it was a port as, graphically this is not a next-gen game. All the objects are terribly angular and poorly textured, if they textured at all. And believe it or not, the game does get some terrible slow-down at times, oh dear huh?

Whilst it is the first Katamari game I've personally played, and as I've mentioned I've not played anything like this before, this iteration of the game has not done anything new with the formula if a quick look up on wikipedia is to believed. So in that respect, the game isn't next-gen. Another terribly annoying feature is the complete lack of auto-save, I mean WTF. Having to navigate my silly wide-headed character to a load/save house in the level hub is frankly lame and felt terribly backwards. It's not as if an autosave would be a contraversial feature to add. The game is broken into very distinctive levels which have to be accessed via the level hub so it would be super convenient to auotsave after finishing a level. I only complain as I assumed that this feature existed and quitted out (probably to go play Rock Band) and when returning to Beautiful Katamari, my progress had not been saved. LAME.

The gameplay itself is pretty cool, although I didn't seem to be very good - the King kept asking me why I bothered, well Kingsy, I might just pack it all in together. Now I only played a few evenings, I didn't complete the game, I got a few achievements for my trouble and at the time it was very fresh. My fear is that the game will get very same-y after a while as there's not a lot that can be done with the formula. One level had me collect "hot" things but that was probably one of the most frustrating levels I managed to play.

Overall, I would say that Beautiful Katamari is a good game, nothing special but unique enough to warrant a try, especially if like me you've not played any of the previous games in the series. It's worth a go but not without it's faults, especially when if you're looking for worthy games for your next-gen xbox 360.

Read full post >>

Insert Coin #7 GTA4 Initial Impressions

So it's been about a week since GTA4 has been released so it seemed appropriate to give some initial impressions whilst still keeping away from any spoilers for those who have still haven't played it. As I read via Digg, there was an article "are you a hardcore gamer?", the last point being that you can get by without getting GTA4 on release date. I got mine on release but had to wait till after work to fire it up - what an inconvenience.
Anyways, I've played for a little bit most evenings, the gym has called to see if I'm still alive (I will be going this week), and the last time I checked the stats I was approx 20% the way through, which is pretty crazy thinking about it.

So what are my thoughts on the game. These are just my first impressions effectively, there is so much to explore and do in the game, not to mention all the clever nuances which I can spend whole weeks without no doubt.
The game exhibits a swagger which we've come to expect from a GTA game. The cut scenes are all delivered in a slick manner and Niko's accent has already got me imitating a little, or should I say lee-tle har har.
They've built in the idea of a mobile phone to handle contacts and being notified about newly unlocked missions - it's quite smart without being as HUD reducing as was claimed a fair while before the game was released. Speaking of HUD, the option of adding a GPS route onto your map is something pretty cool and if you drive an upmarket 4x4 (it's the only one I've noticed in it so far), you'll get the directions spoken to you. Again, a nice little touch. To be honest there are no big surprises in terms of gameplay. What Rockstar have done this time has simply refined the GTA experience, it's more of the same, only that little bit better. The missions still hold true to the templates of old - drive somewhere, kill a guy, escape the police and make it back to safety etc etc

Side activities have been added in the game, the idea of building relationships is something the developers want to stress. So that will involve going out to dinner or a comedy club with friends, going to play darts and pool offer up mini games. It's something quite smart and will appeal to the casual gamer. Personally I've given the mini games a go and it'll probably be some time before I revisit them. What can I say? I have unsurprisingly harvested them of achievements so there's no need to rush back in my mind.

The combat system has had an overhaul, so targeting is much easier, your own health has been incorporated as the border of the map and your target's health appears as a ring on the reticule so it's all pretty slick. That being said, hand-to-hand can feel a little clumsy still and timing of dodges are still something of a black art to me, I failed that tutorial mission so many times cos I lost too much health trying to dodge swings.

Graphically I am perhaps a little disappointed, especially when looking back at the series of trailers which were released which really wet my appetite. The game also features the distant soft focus and grainy shadows much like Mass Effect, I can't decide if it's a work of art and genius or to excuse mediocre draw distance. I will say that driving over one of the bridges and seeing a distant 747-type plane is pretty awesome.

You can't throw in two cents without saying something about the radio stations available in the game. I have to say they are not unmissable, I think they got it just right for Vice City and have been trying to emulate that ever since. That being said there are radio stations for everyone, personally I usually throw on Liberty Rock, or WTTT, which is a little like KChat. The theme music used in the GTA trailers is on the Journey station and that's pretty cool so have to check out the actual music for that.

At the weekend, I decided to forego the single player campaign and brave the multiplayer. What can I say, again it's premature to say this as I have only checked out a few game modes, but it could be one of the best multiplayer experiences when it peaks. I've given the Crooks and Robbers gamemode a go and that was a lot of fun, but I have to say I'm addicted to GTA Race. Essentially it take the basic form of a race but then throw in driveby-stylee shooting at each other, plus the fact you can simply get out of the car and try and take other people out and ignore trying to win the race and you have a winning formula right there.
I don't think I've laughed so hard at a video game in so long, I can watch some guy's player model got knocked down by a scooter and it will never get old, I promise you.

These are just my initial impressions, a lot more time will have to be invested into both the single player and multiplayer to give a true review of GTA4.

Read full post >>

Insert Coin #6 The Cake is a lie

Continuing my trend of post titles that only really make sense if you are very familiar with the subject matter, I present this Insert Coin. Hopefully, the Title ignites the curiosity enough to investigate further. This is another edition of Insert Coin, so it's already known that it's going to be about games, and I finally succumb to buying a copy of The Orange Box.


I know, I know it's been out for what seems like forever since the Orange Box came out. So much time in fact, that they have now released Portal separately for the PC. For those not in the know, The Orange Box is effectively 5 games in 1. There is Half Life 2 + episodes 1 and 2; There is Team Fortress 2 (class-based multiplayer) and there is Portal.
Now Portal is the one game out of the five which I've played the most. I took a brief look at Team Fortress 2 and if I'm honest, I found it quite skittish and loose. However the visuals are awesome, cel-shaded and very cartoonish with exaggerated body shapes etc. I think I'll just need to spend a bit more time with that to get a true idea if I like the game or not. Half Life 2 and the episodic content is something I embarrassingly have not played at all. When Half Life 2 came out I did not have the rig to be able to run it. I remember when Half Life 2 was released on Xbox and that suffered from really bad frame rate, the 360 shouldn't suffer from any of that. Anyways, with the coming of GTA4 (initial impressions coming soon), I'll have to check out the Half Life 2 series at a much later date - gravity gun yum.

Fortunately there was enough time to check out Portal. Now I had heard a lot about Portal. Pretty much everywhere I turned, people were praising the game, there was even echoes of game of the year, which are not entirely misplaced. Opinions I had read promised a truly awesome puzzle game with the great writing that Valve have become well known for.
Well I can only agree with those many opinions, it is a great game and luckily I had not exposed myself enough to spoil the story of the game. What I will say that it is indeed a puzzle/platform game, the general premise being that you are faced with a room in which you have to use your portal gun to move yourself and other objects around in it. You shoot two portals and you then walk through one and then out the other.
It is very cool, I ended up playing for pretty much a whole afternoon and in that time I had pretty much completed all the levels - I got stuck once and had to look up for a bit of help (sorry!). So in reflection it's quite a short experience, but something that is incredibly enjoyable throughout. Also with completing the game it has unlocked an arcade mode of sorts; challenges finishing rooms in the quickest time, finishing with the least number of portals and also reworked levels to make them much much harder. I tried the first hard level and I was making some progress but gave up as I was getting hungry. Anyways, that is pretty cool and the Orange Box will definitely be revisited after the GTA4 buzz calms down.

I wholeheartedly recommend the Orange Box, five games in one speaks really good value. For those like me which have put off this purchase especially with the handful of awesome games we got in the second half of 2007, then don't delay, I can only comment on how much of it I've played so far - With all the Half Life 2 content still to play it's so good in terms of monetary value plus there's the fact that Valve are quality game developers, so it will deliver on actual game play too. Just get it.

Read full post >>

Insert Coin #5Clearing the Road..

Unless you've been living under a rock, you are bound to know that Grand Theft Auto 4 is coming out this Tuesday - a title of which I am very much looking forward to. Now, I know that my gaming time will be consumed with it, a lot of my recent diggs have been little tidbits of information concerning aspects of the game. A full review by IGN that I recently read (and dugg) said that the main story will come in about 25-45 hours, dependent on player skill so there's clearly a lot of content to get through. Post Tuesday I therefore know that the only game I will be playing will be GTA4 so I thought I'd have a revisit of some of my unfinished games - give them half a chance before they get blown away by the new kid on the block.

Jumping back on to COD4 inspired Insert Coin #4 but the majority of my 360 time has been consumed with completing the story of Mass Effect.
Now Mass Effect is a huge Sci-Fi RPG made by Bioware - the same people responsible for the Knights of the Old Republic games and are considered the best western RPG makers out there. Now I don't want to turn this into a Mass Effect review, but as an overview statement, I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed the story - it is the old classic, machines rising up and rebelling against their masters but despite that it was incredibly well told and did I mention I enjoyed it?

Some people are criticised the game in that it is nothing more than an interactive movie. Some would consider that a great compliment, and to be honest it is an RPG, so other criticisms that the combat isn't up to scratch are a little unjustified. It is very smart that I can take my character (Jimiminar Shepard of course) with all his experience and skills and start the campaign all over again - particularly useful for going for the achivements which demand several complete playthroughs.
So I went through the first time, aiming to be a paragon player as opposed to renegade - although the rather cool thing of the game is that it's not so much good vs evil, whatever happens you have to save the galaxy, it's more about the choices you can make in order to achieve that goal. Anyways, I will go through it a second time eventually with a renegade character, I've already punched out a elderly scientist with a screw loose, so should be fun.
My first playthrough was clocked at about 35 hours if the saves are anything to go by, and I didn't do much of the optional side missions, so it is a huge game. And that brings me smoothly onto some minor criticisms I have after playing through. The auto-save feature is effectively non-existent, so reminding myself to save after every enemy encounter is important but I have often forgot and become incredibly frustrated having to repeat half an hour's worth of progress.
I also cannot stand the "driving" sections to the game. The Mako I read in reviews was very easy to control, but I must have had the controller upside down, as I could not manipulate it as I desired - my progress was merely a product of luck and perseverence. It's true you cannot flip it, although I crucuially almost did when I was against the clock, I can't be any more specific without giving spoilers.

Anyways, so that's Mass Effect, a few problems which have been well documented upon the game's release and some of my personal thoughts, but overall a very good game, recommended to anyone that likes their sci-fi and/or RPGs. Another game I've been trying out before the GTA4's arrival is Dead Rising. I believe it was actually a release title, now 2 years old, and well it's graphically not as impressive as games coming out now, but it is effectively a zombie-infested playground where an incredible amount of items can be used as a weapon. Again very cool, but again a frustration thanks to the saving your game progress. Capcom have made it their staple to have save locations, and I always end up dying literally at the furthest point away from one. Also as much as hitting zombies with benches or knocking them down with shopping trolleys, the combat can be clunky at times, a lag is apparent after swinging a bin where you are vulnerable, especially in amongst a crowd of zombies.

I am currently renting Dead Rising thanks to using LoveFilm. The main reason is to check out some films, so any recommendations are greatly appreciated. They also have games to rent, so my thinking is to have a game for about a week at a time, and swap films like every three days or something, I dunno I'm just trying out the service atm, but if I can get that going, then that would be very smart.

Here's looking forward to Tuesday, where once that GTA4 disc goes, I think it's gonna be a long time before it comes out.

Read full post >>

Insert Coin #4The big fight! Halo 3 vs COD4

The other day I decided to jump back on to Call of Duty 4 after a fairly lengthy absence - I'm afraid a lot of my gaming time has been consumed with WoW. Anyways, I could go on about how my progress in WoW is coming along, so yeah I fired up COD4 and obviously went straight to the multiplayer. Both COD4 and Halo 3 came out at about the same time. Both games utilise the matchmaking system for their multiplayer, and it's their respective multiplayers which have made the games so popular, but which multiplayer is the best?

Now this may prove to be unfair, I am basing this on my time with COD4 recently and comparing that to what the Halo 3 multiplayer was like when I played it last, i.e. a few months back. Now both games have different style of multiplayer - Halo 3 is much pacier and it's not unnatural to jump about all the place like a loon. COD4 on the other hand is much slower and if someone sneaks up on you, you're practically boned. In that respect, COD4 is terribly unbalanced compared to Halo 3. At least with Halo 3 if someone starts shooting you, it's actually possible to turn around and kill them first if you are truly the better player. In COD4 you are rewarded for patience, maybe times I've seen on the KillCam my killer has set up shop round a corner and has simply been waiting for me to emerge and then sprays me with bullets = me dead, and not happy.

Both of them use the matchmaking system as I mentioned previously, but it seems a little redundant in COD4, I am quite a low rank as I haven't played much but it's pretty standard to playing in the same games with some very highly ranked players, often 30+ levels higher. Also when it comes to sorting the teams, they're not usually that balanced in my experience. Halo 3 multiplayer, on the other hand, if you jump into a ranked game at a certain level, then you will almost certainly play others at your own level, maybe some higher, some lower, but there's usually only a few levels in it. That way seems the best way to get better. That way you're playing people at your current level, and you can learn and improve, and then face the next level of players.
In COD4 leveling is performed by gaining experience as opposed to wins, or finishing in the top 3 as in Halo 3. That's a little flawed as given enough time I will be able to max out my level on COD4, it becomes a war of attrition, and not one of improving skill. I'm also not a fan of having to unlock game modes in the multiplayer. The idea of upgrades to your weapons and the global challenges that will earn you bonuses are rather cool goals to aim for.

Overall I think the kicker is the unbalanced matchmaking that ruins the COD4 multiplayer experience, and therefore I prefer the Halo 3 multiplayer. The Legendary map pack was released a short while ago, I won't be paying for it, I'll wait until it's made freely available, but to reinforce my argument, I'll obviously have to jump on Halo 3 and touch base with a game that received a lot of criticism, but I actually think it's an awesome and very solid game, the amount of achievements I have gained for Halo 3 probably proves how much I've played it.

Read full post >>

Insert Coin #3The (format) war is over...

Catching up with some posts I started a while back but have yet to finish, welcome to Insert Coin #3, not ultimately about games this time but as you may have guessed a winner to the format war was announced a few weeks back. That is of course the war between the two rival formats HD-DVD and Blu-ray who were duking it out to become the new Hidef optical medium. Sony are the creators of Blu-ray and have been pushing their format with the inclusion of a drive in the PS3, and of their Vaio laptops too. Toshiba sat in the other corner with the HD-DVD format. Now I can't be bothered to go into the specific pros and cons of each format here, but will say that technically blu-ray is the "better" format in terms of storage capacity. This has reminded many of the VHS/Betamax war many years ago, personally I was too young to remember this but VHS won outright as it was the cheaper to produce despite Betamax providing the better quality. In this format war, the "better" format won, although it is widely believed that Sony bought out many of the HD-DVD supporters.

This feature is supposed to be about gaming, so what does all this have to do with anything? Well I've been interested in the outcome of this war and like a lot of people am surprised that it ended as quickly as it has. Now, myself being an owner of an HD TV, I would like to test it's capabilities. Whilst the standard def signal looks ok, it's still quite obvious that that signal suffers because it is on a higher resolution TV. Now that blu-ray is the winner, I find myself thinking, hey it would be cool to have in my possession a blu-ray player. That being said, the cheapest blu-ray player out there is, OMG the Playstation 3. I never gave any serious thought to buying a PS3, the price point being far too high and the lack of quality titles available for the console - or at least titles which I could not already get for the 360. But now, there are some quality games on the horizon, Metal Gear Solid and Gran Turismo 5 are two upcoming titles I am very interested in.

As I said I would like to see blu-ray now I have the HD TV goodness, and being a fan of a fair few revision3 shows, all of which (that I've tried at least) are made available in HD format. That is good in that, I am experiencing some non-game HD content, also Netflix are a regular sponsor of the shows, and blu-ray rental is incredibly tempting. Netflix is of course US only, but there are easily enough UK alternatives out there. Online DVD (+game) rental is the way to go it seems so tempted to sort that out and then switch over to Blu-ray when I finally sort out a PS3. It is probably not much of a coincidence that following the announcement that the format war is over, there must have been a noticeable spike in their sales. Now recently with the help of my good buddy Wilson, I've been looking into getting a new pone contract with the promise of a PS3 as a free gift. The catch is that you obviously have to go for one of the higher rate contracts, they seem to start at ~£35 and you are tied into a 18 month contract. Crunching the numbers and that works out as ~£17 to cover the PS3, and the rest being the cost of the actual contract. Now I'm getting very off topic here but my mobile phone usage is pretty low in the whole scheme of things so it doesn't seem that worthwhile for myself, although it is very tempting to spread the costs and get a PS3 now. Thinking about it, I do feel a little guilty spending all the money for what is effectively going to be primarily a Blu-ray player. There are more crucial purchases that I should be considering first plus GTA4 comes out in a couple of weeks, I've pre-ordered a 360 copy (obviously), so maybe when I start to get bored with that (lol?), I'll properly reconsider the PS3 again, although like the iPod Classic, it's pretty much a definite purchase, it's more of a case of when rather than should I.

This has been a little off-topic but it needed to be posted sooner rather than later, as the more I put it off, the less relevant it gets (especially if by the time I actually posted, I was an owner of a PS3, that's not the case here). I wanna post an Insert Coin about WoW (sorry), and after seeing Kidderminster Harriers play the other day, I have a strong urge to actually play football and/or football manager lol.

Read full post >>

Insert Coin #2 Belated 360 Dash Upate, part 2

Hey ho, we're here again and this time we're continuing my extremely belated review of last year's xbox 360 dash update.

Last time I mentioned the fun I've had with the new codec support and how it has enriched my living room. This time, we're having a look at some of the other features that came with the latest dash update.
Obviously this isn't a comprehensive list of all the new changes, but gives an idea of what I consider to be the other important and/or cool changes, enjoy.

One of the notably immediate features is an increased speed when using the Guide button and all the friends, messages menus that are contained within etc. Now before the update, accessing the Guide was starting to get really painful, often faced with a surprising delay before responding. I was always convinced that it was a symptom of my 360 starting to show its age, I've had it for about one and a half years, and it was inevitable with the lousy reputation 360s have in terms of reliability. With the new update, accessing the guide was much faster, effectively instantaneous which is great. Now, it is possible on Windows machines to change a registry setting which is responsible for the millisecond delay between clicking on the Start Menu button, and then the menu actually appearing. Supposedly, sneaky IT people simply change this setting, and then demonstrate how much quicker the Start Menu comes up as proof that they have improved the speed of the PC. I am hoping that Microsoft have not done something as crafty as this. Although I'm sure they would not reveal how they have made the improvement, but hopefully it's not something as superficial as lowering the delay, or removing transition animations - stuff like that.

Another move which on the surface looks a little cheap trying to jump on the whole social networking bandwagon, is the Friends of Friends feature. I can be perfectly honest and say I took a quick look at some of my Live Friends' friends the first few days after the dash update, but have since not bothered. Apparently it is a work-around a limit of a maximum 100 possible Friends. Now, I have ~40, and to be honest, probably half of those should be pruned as I've befriended them back in my halo 2 days one eve, and never spoke to them/played with them again, mmm....

Another big change is the reworking of the Marketplace Blade. They've now split up the Video sections which go along with the movies which are now available, some even in HD so that's pretty cool, I am yet to purchase one, I don't know, I am always afraid I'm not getting my money's worth and with the non-tangible sensation of a digital download, that counts doubly. Included in the new marketplace is this introduction of the "twist" interface. Before the menus on marketplace with effectively a simple list, where you could scroll up/down and click through to reach lower menus, but now you can go sideways, OMG! It's not that revolutionary, but with the amount of content always increasing, it does make it a bit easier to navigate. Also incorporating the twist interface is the new Spotlight section. Again, this is quite useful, this just provides a very concise list of the new releases in each of the headings, movies, game demos, DLC content etc - I do find myself just having a quick check here if I have a spare moment it's good to see what new stuff has come out.

Speaking of which, another feature is that of "Inside Xbox". A new option on the Xbox Live Blade, thanks to moving both number of new messages and online friends onto the one option, again small changes to neaten up the interface. Now, Europe was getting screwed over compared to our American cousins as for us the Inside Xbox composed of Acey Bongos letting us know how we could spend our live points (whatever the online currency is called?!) on new Live arcade demos. America had the ability to watch streaming videos, some of which came from Major Nelson (a podcast of which I subscribe, it's pretty good actually and surprisingly neutral console-wise at times). Thankfully, that has changed over here, and I think it was around the time of the GDC that suddenly video content was being made available through Inside Xbox, including Major's Minute, which despite being tips/did-you-knows that most people already know, it's a very good start. Also, it has gone from a weekly update to pretty much a daily update - some days (like today), there's nothing there, but mostly there's something new to have a quick look at when I switch on the 360 after work.


I know, I know, this review-of-sorts is a bit late in coming, but it's here now and on the whole it is very good, some very nice changes indeed. '07 has been a very good year for the 360, there have been many contenders for Game-of-the-Year, most of which I have the please of owning, perhaps with the omission of The Orange Box (arg! don't hate me!).


Till next time folks, happy gaming, and to plagiarise the wonderful Consolevania - May you always hit a 1-UP.

Read full post >>