Major Pikey Vehicle

A little while back, I mentioned how Grand Theft Auto 3 got be back into gaming. And after playing nearly 20 hours of the next proper game in the series, I can genuinely feel excited for all of those who will be re-/discovering games via the medium of Grand Theft Auto IV.

It was the recent release of the aforementioned game that finally convinced my good ol' father to acquire me a PS3, and I admit that when I first got it, GTA fell by the wayside as Aquatic and I ploughed through Resistance, MotorStorm and my ever-increasing pile of demo disks (thanks Official PlayStation Magazine UK!). And then, a week after first picking up the SIXAXIS, GTA found itself being slotted into the disk drive. Oh boy, how I have missed that series.

You see, my copies of GTA3 and San Andreas are scratched to death, my Vice City has never returned from being borrowed by a friend, Liberty City Stories got swapped with a mate for Burnout Legends once I had finished it, and Vice City Stories got traded in on one of my make-money-quick sprees. So in fact, IV is the first taste of Posh Stealing Automobiles I've played in a long time.

As previously mentioned on this here humble blog, I play on a little 15" standard-def CRT TV; but even so, the graphical leap from the PS2 games to IV is incredible (the only thing that I've played that looks better on my screen is the Uncharted demo). New explosions are like a gorgeous pre-emptive kick in the groin to Mercenaries 2, HDR reminds me how shitscary Resi 5 will be, and taking a helicopter tour over nighttime Algonquin (GTA's Manhattan) makes me want to get a pilot's license myself. And the little visual improvements are just as important: the cut-down UI, the new location markers and the glowing weapon pickups.

But graphics aside, the gameplay is fantastic. The new controls took a bit of getting used to, but not as long as the new realistic driving. The mobile phone Niko has is probably the biggest addition to the core gameplay, as it allows him to call contacts either to chat or for missions, rather than waiting for them to get hold of him. You can also arrange social meets with the characters, call for side jobs or just pictures of random people. But it becomes crucial to the central game too. If you need a getaway vehicle, you can call your cousin for a cab. If you are running low on ammo, ring Little Jacob and he'll turn up nearby with some guns in the trunk. In one mission, you have to kill someone causing a bit of trouble for one of your contacts, and to make sure you get the right guy, you have to take a picture with your phone and send it to your boss to make sure you're not shooting up the wrong guy.

Another addition, although not as major, is the in-game internet. You can log on at any of the tw@ internet cafes dotted around Liberty City (or in some of the later safehouses) and from there you can check your e-mail, download ringtones for your phone, or find a date.At one point, you need to terminate a guy who is usually well defended, so you log on and find him on an internet dating site. After confirming a nice brunch date, it gets added to the mobile phone's organiser function and off I go to get rid of him. And it's when the phone is combined with use of the internet that you realise how clever the game really is. Example: a lawyer has uncovered some compromising pictures of a corrupt police officer, but simply setting some C4 and blowing up the law firm's offices is the old GTA way of doing things. In IV, you log onto the internet and upload your CV to the Careers section of the firm's site. A couple of days later and you'll get a call from the receptionist, and you arrange an interview. Then, once you're in the office with him, you pull out a knife and scare him into revealing where he's kept the photos, before silently stabbing him, grabbing the incriminating shots and walking calmly out of the building. Suave.

And after the confusing and outlandish plot of San Andreas, GTAIV has one of the best storylines of any game I've ever played. You don't just randomly become a violent criminal (I'm looking at you GTA3), and everything you do has real meaning. A lot of games attempt that 'your actions have consequences' approach, and fail miserably; so to see how well Rockstar have done it, and in an open-world game at that, is impressive. At various points in the game you are given the choice to let someone live or die, and when the 'execute or spare Character Y' prompt appears, you have to quickly decide what to do and evaluate what the repercussions might be. And in a section I passed not so long ago, a received phone call resulted in a 'kill either Major Character 1 or Major Character 2' command that completely changes the game. And it's at that point you realise just how perfectly crafted all the characters are. From your cousin Roman, and bullying Vlad through to high riser Playboy X and drug dealer Elizabetha, none of the the characters are even remotely like the uninteresting results of video game character cookie cutters (they exist, kay? The factory is just next door to EA HQ). And I'm avoiding spoilers here, but some of the plot twists are downright shocking and clever.

There's so much more to say about GTAIV, but that can wait. I wont be posting a full review in the future for two reasons: 1) I don't post reviews of games I haven't completed, cos that's not fair, and completing a GTA game takes a long time when you play like I do, doing everything, so by the time I did a review, everyone else would've already done it, and a review is null and void. And 2) There's so much to do it GTAIV that any kind of a review doesn't really do it justice unless it mentions every single thing that you can do, and due to the branching plot, that's pretty much impossible. I'm sure I'll have more to say on the game in the near future, just don't expect a review in the conventional sense. But as far as I can see at the moment, GTAIV is a necessary addition to any gamers library: you must play this game.

Moving on. When I first got my PS3, I ventured onto the PlayStation Store to see what I could download (in short, a hell of a lot) and along with a bunch of demos, trailers and game videos, I decided to buy a game with my ludicrously small bank account balance. PixelJunk Monsters was the first thing I looked at, but already having purchased Resistance, MotorStorm and GTA, I had plenty of deep, hour-stealing games to play, so I'll get that in the future. FlOw was up next, and as much as I wanted to get it, I really wanted something properly playable for my first purchase, but I'm sure I'll get flOw to show off my HDTV when I finally buy one. After looking over a few different games (and deciding to note down Super Rub-a-Dub for future purchase), I decided upon PAIN!. I know it doesn't have a massive storyline or astounding visuals, but that was exactly what I wanted: a quick, simple to jump into after a few hours of GTA or whatnot. I got exactly what I wanted.

PAIN! is fun. Very fun. And despite being booted up on regular intervals, the repetitive gameplay still hasn't lost its charm. You basically launch a ragdoll character out of a giant catapult into a city and attempt to cause him as much pain as possible (hence the name). You only have one setting, the previously-mentioned city, and you launch-hit, launch-hit. That's effectively it. There are explosive barrels that launch you in other directions upon being hit, other crates that you can fling to hit objects, the ability to grab in all different directions, and posing in flight, but all in all it's the same launch-hit mechanic. And that's not a problem right now because it's still relatively fresh. But even writing it down here, I'm beginning to realise how repetitive that all is.

But then you exit out to the menu and realise I've just been playing one launcher position in the city (unlockable from doing well), in one game mode (choose from simple PAINdemonium, Mime Toss, Fun with Explosives, and Spank the Monkey. Other modes named HORSE and Bowling are unlockable) with one character (some unlockable, some purchasable from the PS Store) in just the single player section of the game.Oh and I was just playing the main part of PAINdemonium - there's an aftermath mode to unlock too. So all in all, it's a game that rewards committed players. That's not even mentioning the multiplayer. And the best bit? The ever-talkative development team regularly post updates on patches and new downloads on their blog, and a new location - 'Amusement Park' - should be out in the not-too-distant future. As pointed out above, I don't review games until I've completed them, so just as a first impression, I'd probably give the game about a 7 out of 10: It's repetitive, but very fun. And I like fun.

I did plan to talk about more stuff here like the new Indiana Jones film that I saw the other night, as well as other game-related stuff, but I have rambled a little, so I'll talk about that in the future. Also, I bought Assassins Creed today, so I'm sure I'll have something to say about that. Until then, adieu!

FO

PS: I've already realised I've forgotten some other GTA stuff I wanted to mention. Expect that soon then.

En Taro Adun!

For any of you out there who's even remotely into the PC RTS scene, this blog title should speak wonders to you. It would even give you a hint as to what this post is about.

That's right bitches, it's Starcraft time.

I understand that maybe a little back story is in order (or would be nice). A while ago I was introduced to Starcraft by a sibling who was currently obsessed with it, as were his friends; calling it a cult would not be too far off actually. But after playing a few games, it seems as though I was inadvertently initiated into this cult, and my downwards spiral into vespian gas, overlord spawning and 'ling rushing had begun. So why not drag a few people down with me?

I introduced it to Octopus whilst he was gracing my chamber with his presence, and luckily enough he was hooked too. After a little venturing into the social realm, we had a team of 4 to play it online (after much 'haxxing teh internets') and it was good. No, it still is good. It's perfect.

Starcraft is unique in that it isn't hindered these days amongst such RTS's as CNC3 and Sins of a Solar Empire when it comes to graphical prowess. It holds its own beautifully; heck, it isn't even 3D and yet I can still waste away my hours (which could be better spent with that revision malarkey might I add) immersing my self in the not-so-immersive war-cries of the Protoss Zealots ("Asar de Templari, my brethren!").

One of the many things I love about it, is that unlike most traditional RTS's, the teams (in this case 'races') available aren't even remotely similar. Sure, they've all got buildings, military units, basic necessities like that, but surprisingly that's where the parallel ceases. All the units are different to each race.

Here's an example; take the Terran Marine. A basic military unit which has a gun capable of shooting ground and air units, and given pretty average health and attack. Now, looking at the Protoss, the advanced alien race of monk-like freaks...there's nothing similar to the Marine at all. The Protoss main unit, the Zealot, is so different from the Marine that I find myself grinning. Even though each unit is completely different, they've still managed to balance them. Sure, if you put a Zealot, with it's energy blades and personal shield, against a Marine, then the Zealot would win hands down. But with the high costs of the Zealot and it's drawback when it comes to not being able to attack air-units, the two become balanced again. And this isn't even going into comparison with the Zerg military units.

And I haven't even begun to scrape the iceberg that is tactics, tech-tree's, buildings, upgrades...

It's just brilliant. So brilliant that I wouldn't be ashamed to mention my addiction to it. So brilliant in fact, that I would shout it from the top of the highest Spire mountain! Which is why I estimate we'll be playing it for weeks to come, what with the newly introduced ability to create our own maps (okay, it isn't new but we didn't even consider it before our fifth member showed up), and the ever-pressing need to revise for exams (and as a result, ignore the need).

And if we didn't need enough of a reason to get excited for Starcraft II, just look at it.

It's just dripping with gah I want it.

-Aquatic Wanderer

Yatta!

I got a PS3.

So there.

Blog posts ready to go, but no: just got get myself past this bit in Resistance...then this other bit...oh look, a Stalker! (etc etc)

So, excuses aside, things have been a little eventful for the gaming division of my brain cells over the last few weeks. I got my brand new sexy amazing fantastical sexy console just over a week ago, but prior to that, I rented out Need for Speed: Carbon for PS2 and pretty much completed that before it had to go back (92% ftw). Also, after I found out the arrival of my very own big black monolith, I raced through a couple of PS2 games that I had to complete, before trading them ALL in, along with my PS2, for next-gen game monies.

And then, of course, it all changed. The recently-vacated spot next to my TV got filled by a new friend, one that greets me with the glorious noise of an orchestra every time I say hello. Obviously, I immediately called the Wanderer and we ventured down into my town to buy things: an extra SIXAXIS, Motorstorm and Resistance: Fall of Man (I already had GTAIV and I Am Legend on Blu-Ray in the bundle I got).

Wanderer and I returned to my abode where we promptly spent time examining every single option of the PS3, updating the firmware, downloading (and installing) demos, and finally: sticking in Motorstorm.

My. Fricking. God.

You know how I like to grade games on the fun factor? Well the first game of Motorstorm we played probably got somewhere about 283 out of 10. Needless to say, that was roughly equivalent to our placement in the results of that race too. But it was incredible.

I should probably point out one thing right now: I have a crappy 15-inch standard-def TV. But did that make it any less awesome? Hell no!(no panic, I plan to invest in a 26" Bravia in the very near future).  We played through a bunch of demos, Aquatic became completely addicted to Super Rub-a-Dub, browsed the Store, bought PAIN!, and downloaded whatever we could find for free. After a brief, yet hilarious stint with PAIN!, we loaded up Resistance and attempted to play some co-op. So blooming hard. We gave up.

And then, a little later, came the time to play Grand Theft Auto Quattro. Which is totally awesome btw, but I shall go into that more in-depth in the near future on this here blog.

After that, we watched the cool alternate ending for IAL that came on the Blu-Ray, and then went our separate ways (although not before 'playing' the Haze demo. I think it's best we don't talk about it).

Over the past week (public examinations be damned), I have spent a lot of time playing games, being beaten online on Motorstorm by mates, moving music over to my PS3 from iTunes on my laptop, and yes: still dabbling in a little Starcraft from time to time (also another thing to talk about next time: we are now completely addicted).

Over the last few days, I've also begun the single-player Resistance campaign, and am actually doing pretty well, I'm about three-quarters of the way through now, so expect a review at some point. Also, of course, expect a mega-review of the PS3 itself in the future.

Gotta go, Nathan Hale's busy dying, FO.

Better Than St George's Day By Far

Today is Sony Europe's PlayStation Day in London, and here I am to give you a bit of a roundup of the news coming out of the show. First of all though, remember that this is not a massive event such as E3, TGS or GDC, so there's a lot of updates on games rather than announcements of new ones. Also, bear in mind that the show is only a Sony Europe event, so a lot of the news is Euro-centric. Don't worry if you're elsewhere in the world though, there'll be another Sony event in Tokyo next week and it's likely that America will see something similar in the near future.

 

I guess it's only right to start with our favouritest game ever (and we haven't even played it yet), LittleBigPlanet. There wasn't much new on the game during the press conference, but it was playable on the floor of the show, and PS3 Fanboy has their impressions up here. The build on display apparently felt more refined than previous hands-on sessions, and there were a few new additions. Levels are picked by navigating a globe, and PS3F noted that there were already dozens of levels on the map, showing Media Molecule's commitment to making sure there is lots of content on the disk for those who don't want to get involved with the creating/sharing aspect of the game (morons). Sackboys dressed as the Helghast from Killzone 2 appeared in the presentation, along with tons of other characters and outfits. Also announced: a new October 2008 release date.

Moving on to Resistance 2. Ted Price (head of Insomniac Games) jumped on stage to talk about the four main pillars of the game: Community, Campaign, Co-Op, and Competitive. Community-wise, he talked about expanding the massive online community surrounding the first game, mentioning things like redesigning MyResistance.net, making it more like Facebook (*sigh*) and adding website-based matchmaking. He said he couldn't talk about the campaign mode yet but that it would center on Nathan Hale's return to the US. He also mentioned R2's 8-player co-operative mode, which has a separate story with different characters to the solo game. Then it got to the real meat of the presentation: the Competitive mode. 60-player online matches had already been announced for the game, and Price talked about the "battles within battles" that would make up the online game. With so many players in one match, they are split into five different squads with different dynamic objectives, and each squad is pitched against a rival squad on the other team with the same objectives. You will be able to play as both the humans and the Chimera in the multiplayer, however this wasn't shown in the video at the event. Release in fall 2008 (October/November).

The other big shooter in the works is Killzone 2 (a game I have much more interest in having now nearly completed the original game on PS2). Very little was said about the game, but a new video was shown, and journalists got to have time to play the game at the event, so expect hands-ons from other gaming sites. The release of the game was also announced for February 2009 (yes, next year).

It wasn't just shooters up Sony's sleeve though. They brought out the first gameplay footage of Motorstorm: Pacific Rift, the sequel to last March's successful racer. As well as the usual graphical upgrades, Motorstorm: PR changes the setting to an island inspired by Hawaii, adding new cars, twice the number of tracks of the original game, water, vegetation, more destruction, monster trucks and, most importantly, split-screen multiplayer for up to 4 players. Thank god! Motorstorm: Pacific Rift should be out about the same time as Resistance 2 this autumn.

The next game to be shown was Mirror's Edge, a brand new game from DICE and EA. It is played entirely in the first person and the story is about a courier called Faith. Oh and some kind of conspiracy, naturally. I wont talk much here, as Mirror's Edge is a game I'm very much looking forward to, so will probably be going on about it sometime in the near future anyway. The best bit of the game to be shown so far? The colour. There is blue, and red, and green and white, and sunshine! Happiness! No dull browns here *cough*Killzone 2*cough*. Mirror's Edge should be out in late 2008 (although I wouldn't be surprised to see it put back to next year), and the very first gameplay footage can be seen here.

Sony, as usual, took time to talk about their social gaming products as well as the big hitters. On top of sales numbers for games like Buzz and Singstar, the PS3 versions of these games were shown. Singstar came out in Europe earlier this year, and adds HD music videos, a new sleek interface, the SingStore (for downloading new tracks to your collection), and My SingStar - a social networking tool that connects the worldwide community, with the ability to upload performances captured using the PlayStation Eye that others can then watch and rate. Also shown were new features including a duet mode for two players and Remote Play compatibility which will be added in an imminent update. The PS3 version of Buzz, called Buzz! Quiz TV, was also included in the presentation, which showed not only the new game modes, but the social tools that allow you to write your own questions and then upload and share your quizzes with other players. Singstar for PS3 is out now in Europe (and coming soon to the US), with a track pack disk called Volume 2 out in the not too distant future. Buzz! Quiz TV will be out in May.

Another part of the presentation was dedicated to the Go! peripherals for PSP (what is Sony's obsession with unnecessary exclamation marks?). They briefly mentioned the Go! Cam that was released last year, tying it into the release of Go! Messenger that happened this spring. Messenger allows you to communicate with other PSP and PC users using text, voice (with a headset or the camera) and video (with the camera, duh). They then hyped up the imminent European release of Go! Explore, the GPS add-on, before moving onto a new service called Go! View. Go! View!!!! (sorry, lost it a little there) was announced last year and enables you to download Sky TV shows (that's stuff like Lost, Battlestar Galactica and the new Gladiators) to your PSP via a PC. Shows will be available on a subscription or pay-per-show basis and the service will launch on June 30th. As for a similar service on PS3, Sony Europe president David Reeves said to "watch this space". I am, right now. It's kind of teal.

Other snippets from the event: PlayTV (the PS3 Freeview add-on) has been announced for a September release for 99 Euros, Sony is developing an indie music show for the PSN called "Movement" coming this summer, the next Siren game will be an episodic title called Blood Curse which will start in the Summer, the Gran Turismo Racing Academy will see if players can race as well in real life as they can in the game (vids will start hitting the PSN May 23rd), full PSP UMD games will soon be added to the EU Playstation Store for PC as in the US, and we finally have a description of PixelJunk Eden, the next game from the team behind Racers and Monsters: "Leap and swing between lush alien vegetation in a truly innovative platform game which constantly evolves over time as you move through the perfectly realised undergrowth, hunting treasures and smashing enemies from his path" (from a press release, not the presentation).

Remember that hands-on reports will going up on other site very soon, so check them out.

FO

Carbonated

I'm gonna be honest and say that driving games are not my forté. Well, by that I mean straight-up racing games. Gran Turismo, Project Gotham Racing, etc etc; I'm rubbish at all of them.

But then there's the other racing games. The ones that are different in their own ways, not just pure simulations of track racing. Burnout's deranged mayhem, Need for Speed's nighttime city runs, Motorstorm's off-road chaos and Ridge Racer's impossible drifts. All of which add up to ultimate fun for those of us who don't really fancy day-long endurance races.

This weekend is a Bank Holiday, so I've been using the extra day off to get some gaming done before I return to revising for exams. Therefore, whilst on socialising travels today, I popped into Blockbusters and picked up Need For Speed: Carbon for PS2 (£3 for a week, pretty cheap). I always used to play round my car-obsessive friends house when Underground and Underground 2 came out, and I got Most Wanted with my PSP in 2005. I've briefly played Most Wanted for PS2 on a hire too, but this was my first play of late 2006's Carbon.

The first thing to mention is that the core gameplay (driving around the streets of a fictional city, looking for events that culminate in boss races) is still perfect. It seems to have taken a turn for the worst in last year's ProStreet, but here in Carbon, the gameplay feels solid, the best it has since Underground 2. The next thing to mention is that the game has returned to a nighttime setting. Thank-frigging-god. How much I hated the sun-drenched streets of Most Wanted, and yearned for underground and very illegal racing to return to its seemingly logical hiding place, namely the night. Plus, you just get a much better sense of speed at night, which makes things more interesting.

Obviously, this being a yearly EA franchise, there's the inevitable gimmick new feature. For Carbon, EA Black Box added 'Canyon Duels'. These are set one of the canyons conveniently located around the main city, and involve you and a big bad boss racing down a treacherous cliffside track and attempting to shove each other off the side. I'll make my point brief: it's surprisingly good. Oh, it can be stupidly difficult from time to time, but overall its a good new addition. Another new addition is the 'Risk'-like map. The city is split up into numerous zones, each of which contain a number of events to compete. It actually gives a much more visual representation of 'winning back your rep' than the other games in the series. And my favourite thing about NFS Carbon? They brought back Drift events! =D

From what I've played (the game reports that I'm 20% of the way through), Carbon does feel like the best Need for Speed game in a long time. Graphics are sharp (for PS2), the UI is normal EA perfection, and the combination of licensed tracks and music made especially for the game is fantastic. But, and here's the bastard truth, that's because it's been the same for so long. Since Underground, its been basic improvements all-round (Yay, Autosculpt! /sarcasm) rather than anything new and exciting. And the kicker: when they did change it in ProStreet, it sucked. Big time.

Overall rating: 9/10

FO

(Note: screenshots from PS3 version of the game)

 

The Shitsons

You know what game is shit?

The Simpsons Game.

Don't start with all the bullshit about it being the best Simpsons game ever (whatever honour that title holds), it isn't, that's reserved for Simpsons Hit and Run, one of the most fun games ever made, even without debug mode.

This is the most ultimate failure of a platforming game ever invented, tying in the worst elements you can possibly choose from most platformers. Sure, you've got the generic elements which make a platformer for what it is (which the writers 'cleverly' made an excuse for by openly calling them 'video game cliché's' in-game) but they all work so terribly that it's hard for me to even force myself to play it, just in case it gets slightly less shit.

Let's give you an example of one of the levels, and where better to start than the first. The game starts off with a scene of Homer sitting (in shoddily animated graphics, might I add), dreaming about Chocolate Land, or Candy World, or Nougat Dump, I can't remember. Here they sneakily re-edit the scene from an actual Simpsons episode where exactly the same thing happens, but instead of the dream ending, we're shoved into some gameplay. We play as Homer, the fat yellow tub of...well, yellow, who's single abilities are jump and punch, which can unsurprisingly be made into a 3 string consecutive attack.

And this is where the fun ends. We have to follow the White Chocolate Rabbit up to some giant piece of cakey crap, whilst traversing the most unimaginative level ever spawned by game designers. What I do like about the Simpsons game is that it gives me hope for a future career, because if these slack-jawed designers can get a job, then I'm gunna be rolling in it. The world you are dumped in is a crushing meld of browns and dark creams, obviously to properly show the cakey chocolateyness, but in actual fact it just makes everything smush together, until distinguishing from a ledge and the terrible background texture becomes more difficult that getting yourself to care.

What really pisses me off is they use the whole 'cel-shaded' look to give themselves excuses for the obvious low quality. The lines around the characters, the enemies, the objects...okay, the lines are everything look like they're done in paint. Actually, look back at it, any in-game screenshot would look like it was just some skilled artist in paint. I don't know whether I can attribute this to my awesome TV or the result of it being in 480p, but what I do know is that if I want to imagine I'm playing a game in paint, I'll just paste a screenshot of LittleBigPlanet in there and stare at it for the next 10 hours I could've spent laughing myself to death playing Simpsons.

Anyway, back to the gameplay. Homers 3 hit attack is shit. Sorry, but it is. And when it makes up for most of the gameplay, this therefore makes the rest follow on from the previously mentioned shittiness. He punches right, punches left, then punches again, then stops for some reason. I don't know why the developers though it fun that Homer left himself open for about 2 seconds, but let me tell you, I was having barrels of laughs. You could just attribute him to being such a sack of lard that 3 simple movements tire him out completely, but I prefer to blame it on EA.

And then there's the AI. I swear to you that I could've written this AI in actionscript and I don't even know how to code in actionscript. Picture this; you're waddling along, minding your own business, eating the chocolate lumps that logically fall out of anything you punch, when you see a chocolate rabbit coming after you. You begin to run away, but alas, the rabbit follows. You turn to fight it. You begin to fight it. Huh. The rabbits not doing anything. You punch again. The rabbit does nothing. You punch aga- oh wait, it seems like the rabbit has a warm up period of about 3 seconds. I'm not joking, they may be one of the first enemies, but if you just run around mashing the B button (this is the Wii-version, by the way), even despite the colossal recovery period after Homers flabby flailing, there is little way to die. Not to mention that every time an enemy is killed, there is an orgy of energy glorbs afterwards which fills up your special ability bar no matter what, allowing every enemy you come across to be insta-killed!

You know what, I'm actually angry just writing about it. I would stop writing but then I would be left with going back to the game, and even though I despise it to the very core, I always tell myself to persevere until a certain point before I deem a game is hopelessly bad.

So here I go, I'll post later with a final verdict perhaps, but for now, The Simpsons Game for the Wii rests at a comfortable 2/10.

-Aquatic Wanderer

Who Needs Sunshine When You Have Games?

Playing: Beats (PSP). Listening to: Skins OST.

Today was an absolutely gloriously sunny day in the North of South Korea (spoiler: not where I actually live), so I took the opportunity to head outside and ventured into my garden armed with my laptop. Unfortunately, my neighbours had decided not to switch their wireless box on today, so I was denied some Starcraft online action. I sulked for some time, before heading back inside and digging around for a prized possession of mine. And there it was: the Total Annihilation disk.

Now for all of those who don't know, which I assume to be quite a lot of people, Total Annihilation (PC) is another ageing RTS, and is one of my favourite games. Although the title would seemingly suggest the opposite, it is in fact a more tactical affair than the aforementioned 'Craft, and for that reason, makes it a lot more fun if you (like me) enjoy playing the 'long game' in an RTS. Which basically means working through the tech tree and deciding which units are the best for your strategy.

Unlike in Starcraft, where you research your way through the tech tree (a la Age of Empires), in Total Annihilation, things are done a little differently. There are three main types of units: Kbots, Vehicles and Aircraft that apply to most maps (there are also Naval units, and Hovercraft that turn up on occasion). Then, after building a Kbot lab for instance, you use it to create a Construction Kbot, which then can build an Advanced Kbot Lab, which can in turn build an Advanced Construction Kbot. Overuse of the word Kbot, methinks. And no, it doesn't go any higher than that, but this does open up a lot of different units. But getting the Metal and Energy levels to be able to build the advanced units does take some time, hence my favouring of the 'long game', compared to how Starcraft's AI will attack quite quickly, forcing you do build a quick defensive army of low-level units.

Point made: I love Total Annihilation. Moving on, I said I'd have some impressions of my recent PSP acquisitions, and although I haven't got far enough into Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops to form an opinion yet, I will share my thoughts on the PSP-exclusive (until the inevitable PS2 port) God of War: Chains of Olympus. However, this is far from a review, that would be cruel after only a few hours of play, so bear that in mind.

Apart from a brief spell with the GoW1 demo, I have never really played either of the previous God of War games, so no, I don't know any of the back story. But that is irrelevant, because at one point in Chains of Olympus, Kratos turned around and said "What treachery is this?" and I was made happy, forgetting the fact I had no idea what was going on. However, from what I've gathered, Kratos does not at all like being the Gods' bitch, which is understandable really.

Story aside, the gameplay is immense.I've never really been a fan of beat-/slash-em-ups (presumably the reason I haven't played God of War games before), but this is really great fun. The combos are slowly unlocked as you go around collecting red orbs to level up your mad skillz, so you can learn them at your own pace rather than them all being there when you start, which is what makes other fighters too overwhelming for me. Also, the fact you have to balance out your magic usage, blade-swinging and health gives the game an extra depth. There is one major problem though. Random insane difficulty spikes. They are the death of me, literally (well at least in the game). I've already come up against two in my playing, and I'm stuck at another one now. It's not a deal breaker, but it is annoying when they turn up, because they take a hell of a lot of time to get past. At least the loading times are fantastically short, which takes away some potential annoyance.

Now to presentation: the music in the game is top notch orchestral stuff, and so I was mightily glad about that. Sound effects are also great, and the voice acting and animation in the cut scenes is also spectacular. And so I get to the inevitable mention of the game's graphics. And yes, they are amazing; hell, they'd be amazing on PS2, on PSP they are astonishing. The first time I booted up the game to be given a fantastic view of the Persian attack on the Shores of Attica, and it was genuinely a moment of amazement. But one thing I will say is, due to the games use of the full-and-recently-unlocked 333Mhz of the PSP processor to chuck out this graphical awesomeness, the battery life of said console is lowered in comparison to playing other games, although not by too much.

And to the final, deciding factor of a game for me: FUN. I will buy games primarily on how fun they are regardless of graphics/story/anything else, as long as they promise a good time. God of War: Chains of Olympus is one game that has fun in spades, especially for someone new to the series like me. Overall, I feel that my playing of the game so far has shown how much work Ready at Dawn have put into this game, and pretty much the only downer is the annoying difficult spikes. Highly recommended: a solid A rating.

Expect to hear more from me soon, on MGS: Portable Ops, Patapon, SOCOM: Tactical Strike, as well as other games.

FO out.

Literally Repenting

Whether you want to blame my blogging revival on lack of coursework or rivalry between my fellow blogger and I, it's safe to say I'm back again!

After you wrap your mind around that blog title, you may have noticed that we now have a 'Currently Playing' bit at the side there. Yeah, me neither. But it's awesome, and it leads me on nicely to the bulk of my post; reviewing Super Smash Bros Brawl.

As we've already mentioned, us two live in England (as if our pasty skin was not white enough already) and so you could be pondering as to how I actually have Brawl, and better yet, how I actually play it. Those of you out there who are in any way Wii-savvy, will know that just before the American launch of Brawl, Datel released the Wii-freeloader (or ingeniously dubbed 'wiiloader' by many) and I took my chance.

I guess I should explain to you my history with Super Smash Bros. It's comprehensive. Comprehensive in the way that I was around for the launch of the original SSB, playing it to death might I add, and waited through thick and thin for SSBM, easily one of the best games I have ever played ever. I used the same word to describe something twice in the same sentence. That's how awesome it is. Suck on that, spell check.

Anyway, ever since launch of SSBM, I never put the game away. It was always there, ready to keep my boredom at bad and lower my school marks. And when I found out about SSBB, I was elated, to the degree that I contemplated buying a Japanese Wii in advance, for I knew Nintendo loved screwing Europe over.

And screw us over they did. Only a few days ago did we learn that Brawl is launching over here on June 27th. Five fricking months later, with only a different language to show for it. Ugh. So not content with this, I got the Freeloader and my copy of Brawl at the American release date, and proceeded to drown in the proverbial clusterflump of gaming franchises.

And my god is it good. I'm not going to go on about how amazing it is, and what makes it amazing. It would honestly take too long and I could talk about it for many many pages. If you've ever played Melee, just imagine that but injected with steroids. It's pretty much the best description I can give of it. Sure, people will find their gripes, they have to, but it doesn't matter, because this one is up there with the greats; top 10 easy.

Although I came into this feeling like I should review the game, I realize I don't need to. You're going to get it, or not get it, no matter what I say. I would like to point out a few things though. Online is not as bad as they say it is. Nintendo's servers are perfectly fine (now), and as long as your internet connection is up to scratch (mine tops at 60 kbps and even I only experience minor lag) then you'll be Brawling without a hitch.

Secondly, the 1 player game is superb. Ignore any nay-sayers, who say there is no story line at all. There is. It's just really haphazard and crappy. But that's okay, because it's Brawl! Having a story actually make sense when it involves 30+ characters from multiple series would be pretty hard, especially without the genius's who are worked on it.

And finally, Olimar rocks. He may seem stupid, and silly, and weak, and many other bad adjectives, but if you spend time getting to know his ups and downs, he's deadly. Ever seen a character do 200% in 10 seconds? You would if you mained Olimar.

And that's it. I expect you'll be hearing from us at some point.
In the mean time, keep on pretending.

Aquatic "Starcraft Is Awesome" Wanderer

Terran, Spartan, American.

Playing: Black (PS2). Listening to: MGMT.

Hullo again there, I've been off on holiday in Barbados doing coursework and revision for my GCSE's the past few weeks, hence I've been a bit absent on here.

Anyways, I thought I'd update again whilst I have a brief respite from work having handed in the last of my coursework today, and before I begin heavy revision for my German oral exam later this weekend. I'm also using the time to charge through some gaming that I've missed the last few weeks.

First of all, an old friend turned up again in the shape of Starcraft (PC). I'm sure everyone that visits here will know what it is, but just a quick recap: classic RTS set in space featuring three alien races: the Terran, Protoss and Zerg, made by Blizzard, the guys behind the Warcraft franchise. Anyhow, last week I got a message from Aquatic telling me his brother was down and fancied some 4 player LAN Starcraft. Unfortunately, remembering how to play took longer than I thought and we missed the opportunity, but still got some 3 man (and AI) games in, which was sweet. The downside of course is that I am not completely addicted to damn Starcraft all over again. Game is still as sweet as ever though.

Whilst round at the Wanderer's abode hidden away in the middle of nowhere, I took the opportunity to try out Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) for the first time. Now, I've never played a Smash Bros game before, and I have to say it was pretty damn fun. Obviously I can't take into account the 'needing-to-play-for-ages-to-unlock-the-decent-multiplayer-stuff' cos Aquatic had already done that and we just played craploads of multiplayer matches. The thing that amazed me most though? The graphics. Some of the stages looked amazing, and I was impressed that the Wii had no framerate glitches or anything. Overall, great experience, looks like a great game.

Next up, a brief mention of Silent Hill 2 (PS2), another game we played a little of briefly whilst I was there (yes, most of our time was taken up by Starcraft LAN games). I've been trying to get into SH2 since I bought it a little while back but so far, I'm not seeing anything amazing. I shall keep trying though, it's just a little tedious. Possibly the only time I've taken a game off my Most Wanted list (Silent Hill: Homecoming) because I've played a previous game in the series and hated it.

So, its now the weekend again, so I'm rewarding myself for a week of hard work at school by playing some awesome games. Primarily, I'm going through Black (PS2) again, as I fancied blowing random stuff up and I've run through Mercenaries so many times now. So Black it is, now on Normal mode after Aquatic and I beat it on easy last year. And don't take the piss, the last level is fricking hard regardless of difficulty level. Also, I'm playing God of War: Chains of Olympus and Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops (both PSP) that I've borrowed from a friend since my gaming budget for April went on Patapon and those random PS2 games a little while back, so expect first impressions of those two soon!

Byebyes!

Return of the Pie

I've been off ill this week, and it suddenly occurred to me that I haven't blogged here at all in ages. Busy? Doubt It. Forgot? Likely. Lazy? Yes.

Anyways, last weekend Aquatic and I decided to do a little meet up. The plan was originally to venture to the capital of our fair and glorious nation to visit the Queen for tea, but unfortunately, we realised we we're completely and utterly skint, so gave up. Instead, we took a quick trip down to GameStation and browsed the used games section. An hour later, we left confidently with 8 games (for £20 too) and Aquatic also grabbed 2 Shadow of the Colossus models, which are awesome. Anyways, here are the eight games (all PS2, because that was the only console we had with us to play that night):

• Crazy Taxi: As good a place to start as ever. Great, fun game though, if beginning to show its age a little. Oh and everything is crazy. Title screen: that's crazy. At character selection, everyone is crazy. Then jump into the game, crazy mode mind you, and it's all "Let's go earn some crazy money!". Just a note. In case you're allergic to crazy or anything. B-
• Goldeneye: Rogue Agent: Now, I know a lot of people hated on this, but I love it. It's great fun to play, and to me that's what makes a fantastic game. Also the Environment Traps are great fun to use in multiplayer, and opening the trap doors on the Golden Gate Bridge before explaining to the Wanderer about said traps was great. A-
• Red Faction: Okay, admittedly we didn't play this for long yet, but the idea seemed sound, story (outlandish but no complaints) seems solid, and the ability to blow the crap out of whatever is in front of you is fun. Probably the only annoying bit is the technological limitations of an early PS2 title: the graphics aren't great, and the gameplay, especially movement, is a little dodgy. Actually being able to shoot someone and they die instantly gives a great sense of satisfaction though. B-
• Deus Ex: This is harsh bearing in mind I played about 10 minutes of it, and you have to remember when this was made (2002 on PS2), but I found serious issues. Terrible framerate, glitchy controls and gameplay, long and very frequent load times to name but a few (ignoring graphics). Having said that, I know that it is supposedly a good game, and it has 90 on Metacritic, so I will try getting into it properly somewhere along the line. C
• Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: Aquatic and I played this is co-op mode, as Legolas and Gimli respectively, which was great fun. Or at least it was apart from Aragorn's seeming inability to do anything-at-funking-all bar sticking in an occasional sword to get some kill points. Still, combat is perfect, graphics are top notch, voice acting blah blah blah it's all great, kay? A+
• Haven: Call of the King: I'd never heard of this before, but Aquatic told me to buy it and I'm glad I did. I'm a big platformer fan, but there just doesn't seem to be many good ones around any more. Here is one though, it has a little of the Beyond Good & Evil about it, but that's hardly a bad thing. Overall great quirky little game. B+
• XIII: Not the Final Fantasy game silly, the actioner. I absolutely adore the comic book stylings and it is a great fun game to play, it's at the bottom of my pile to play at the moment just due to the amount of games I got, but my play of the first through levels reminded me why I used to love playing it on my mates Xbox 1. B+
• TimeSplitters 2: I loved TimeSplitters Future Perfect, which was one of the first games I got for my PS2 back in the day. The gameplay was the best I'd seen and the game was both fun and hilarious. So finally, I dug out a copy of 2 and it is just as great! The time between the games doesn't appear to have hindered it at all, and it was a blast to play, both in co-op mode and deathmatch - which is insanely fast. A+

So overall, lots of awesome games!

FO