Sunday 30 November 2008

Warped

 

I downloaded Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped on my PS3 this morning. It’s brilliant, just like I remembered and it looks slightly upscaled on the PS3. To be honest the only noticeable difference is that the sound quality is 100X better than playing it on a Playstation 1.

So I know what I’m playing up until Christmas! Which is like three weeks away. Which is worrying. I’ve almost been doing this blog for four months now.

Saturday 29 November 2008

Reality Sucks

“I never would have thought that “realism” meant that your ears ring when a grenade goes off but there you go!”

Friday 28 November 2008

Animal Crossing!

 

I wonder how many people close their web browser when they see this…

 

I’ve been reading reviews for the new Animal Crossing, City Folk and it looks to be quite good (from what I’ve read on CVG anyway). I loved Wild World and this looks to be more of the same which is good. I might pick it up after Christmas.. I might not.

Thursday 27 November 2008

Starfox Adventures

 

To this day, I consider Starfox Adventures to be one of my most sought after games ever. Bearing in mind I was ten at the time, and I considered the GameCube to be the greatest thing EVER invented, I was desperate to play this game.

 

So that Christmas (Christmas 2002, and I can tell you know that scares the shit out of me because I remember it like yesterday) I ran downstairs and there it was. I got a new TV that year as well, so imagine my GLEE when I sat down to play it. I loved it, and this day I still have fond memories of it. The opening level as crystal, fighting the giant airship with the moving head. Fantastic. This game was beautiful (and still is, from the looks of the screenshots I’ve found) and I remember it being deeply atmospheric. In fact it probably still is! I really should dig it out and play….

 

 

So, Imagine my surprise (Yes this blog has a point, not just a reason to be nostalgic) when I found out that this whole game was an N64 game that was cancelled and re-released (after an update) as a Starfox Game on the GameCube! I know! Shocking! Here’s the video. I’m off to see the Mighty Boosh Live :P

 

Wednesday 26 November 2008

Spore Expansion?

Stumbled across this comment on nFortress today from Phillie93. He bumped the Spore thread, which already made me rather weary.

 

“They've just brought out a new expansion for it; creepy & cute parts. Anyone got it? It's meant to add 60+ new parts to the game, more paint textures, animations etc. I might get it but I don't know whether its any good. Apparently the next expansion is gonna let you beam your creature down onto a planet from your ship in Space phase and the ablity to make planets!!!! Which could be pretty mint in my opinion. :D

Spore…  Expansion?

 

Yea it’s true. It’s coming. In fact it’s out next week. So… 60+ parts… More paint textures…. animations….. Christ I’ve overwhelmed.

 

To be honest Maxis, why would I want to pay to make a mediocre game that was a major disappointment in the first place SLIGHTLY better. It’s too flawed as it is. You should all be ashamed. In my opinion, you should make a new Sim City and focus on making the Sims 3 what you’ve promised it to be because let’s face it, last time you did that we got this monstrosity.

 

Eugh.

Tuesday 25 November 2008

Ban This Sick Filth!

The “National Institute on Media and the Family” (No I haven't heard of them either), has just released their yearly “Top Ten Games To Avoid Buying Your Kids”. Obviously I was interested in seeing what had been panned, and was quite surprised by what they didn’t deem suitable for children… *coughs*

 

Left 4 Dead, Gears Of War 2, Far Cry 2, Fallout 3, Resistance Fall Of Man and a few others made the list (basically everything I’m getting for Christmas). These are the games you crazy kids SHOULDN’T be getting for Christmas, because you’ll al kill your grandma on Christmas day. Instead, the site recommends you get such classic hits like All Star Cheer Squad, Hasbro Family Game Night, High School Musical 3: Senior Year DANCE! and Nancy Drew: The Haunting of Castle Malloy. Wow! I bet you all can’t wait to play all those top quality titles! I promise you kids, there a lot better than those terrible devil games like Left 4 Dead and Peggle.

 

*face/palms*

Monday 24 November 2008

Blood Harvest

I finished the final Left 4 Dead scenario last night (I haven't been playing it that much. I played Two scenarios on Saturday night, one yesterday morning and the final one last night).

 

It was certainly the best of the lot. Running through the corn fields. Brilliant. Cinematic game play at it’s best!

 

One thing I didn't mention yesterday was the gags in the game. There’s a lot of humor in it, which is surprising in a way because it’s a game about Zombies. Then again it’s Valve, and their sense of humor is legendary. I mean look at Portal!

 

Thanks to Friz for the images! Well the second one.

Sunday 23 November 2008

Left Me For Dead

So, first opinions. Well. What can I say? It’s Valve, It’s zombies and it’s Co-Op multiplayer. If your not walking with a limp right now, then your not human. (That was a cheap erection joke, I am sorry.)

 

I only played the demo for around 2 hours overall. I think it wasn’t long enough for you to get the overall feel of the game. It wasn’t even a taster. Left 4 Dead is a game that, like so many others, needs to be played enough so that the reality sinks in. So that your mouth begins to water with excitement. It is nothing short of genius.

 

 

I’ve only played 2 scenarios and a few verses matches so far (the scenarios take around 40 minutes to finish on normal, and considering they change every time you play that’s a hell of a lot of game play hours"). I haven't had as much fun playing a game with friends since Team Fortress 2 and I bet I wont for a very long time.

 

Everything about this game is polished to perfection, and it just works the way it should. It’s a cinematic experience from the moment you start a game (to the point where the loading screen is a movie poster showing which players are playing which characters. A very nice little touch), when you encounter your first witch and all of your characters speak in hushed panicked whispers. You can’t help becoming  involved, whispering to your mates “It’s a witch, I told you I could hear her. Shit man, flashlights off. FLASHLIGHTS OFF!”.

 

Valve have mastered the co-op side of this game. You need to work together, and not in a half arsed way like in other games, where one of you can still finish the game with one of your mates doing nothing (probably tea bagging an enemy I expect). If you don’t all stay close one of you will get picked off by the infamous Director (who is every bit as good as we were promised), who will no doubt send a swarm of zombies for you, a hunter, a smoker a boomer or if your really unlucky, a tank.

 

I’m not even touching the surface here. This game needs to be played. It’s a masterpiece. Cheapest I can find it is £22 of www.play.com

 

So what are you waiting for? Go buy it!

Saturday 22 November 2008

Today Is A Good Day!

 

Firstly, my Girlfriend randomly got me Left 4 Dead a s a surprise today. It was so kind of her. It’s incredible, better than I expected and I’ve just come off it for a bit so I can do this. It’s that addictive!

 

 

My girlfriend also got a copy of the new Tomb Raider. She’s a massive fan. It looks well good, so I can’t wait to watch her play it tomorrow.

 

And finally, a lot of lucky people got picked for the Open Beta of Home today, Shrimpdude included. Hope it’s good and well done to all those who got in for it! Now… Off to shoot more Zombies…

Friday 21 November 2008

A Dream Come True!

Bioshock Challange Rooms

This is probably the first time I’ve ever been genuinely shocked by a Playstation store update since I bought my PS3. Additional Bioshock content? *Swoons*

 

Oh they look so purty. They don’t try to create a new story, it’s just additional challenges for you to try and complete. There probably overpriced at over £6 but who cares! There beautifully created. You can believe that they’d be present in Rapture. One of the flaws of Bioshock was that you didn’t get to explore Rapture enough as you wanted to. This additional content lets you see that little bit more!

 

Now I need to get Bioshock on PS3….

Thursday 20 November 2008

A Desperate Attempt.

 

Ok before I start this I want you to know two things. Yes I am a PS3 owner, and I don’t have an Xbox. However, I am VERY fond of the Xbox and am seriously contemplating getting one for myself (For the second time, my first one Red Ringed on me and I raged). I believe Xbox Live to be the best console online gaming experience to date and lets face it, 90% of my friends have one.

 

So yesterday, the New Xbox Experience came out (or as it’s now known, the NXE, not be confused with the Playstations XMB). Basically the NXE is the much anticipated Dashboard update, which every single Xbox owner has been wetting their pants over. Of course, I always like to look at everything from a critics perspective (I’m a moody, arrogant person. What do you expect?) so here’s my personal opinion on Microsoft's latest attempt at securing the market.

 

 

Ok so my first impressions. It’s pretty, very pretty. It’s what the dashboard should have always been. It’s slick, sexy and HD. It’s awesome. The new interface is simple, and very well spaced out (although I dread to think how it looks to people without a HD TV over 19”), I love the whole sliding from behind thing that’s going on and the new achievement list is brilliant.

 

Avatars, although as pointless as they were on the Wii (at the present time that Is, no doubt Microsoft will pull something out of their sleeves on a later date) are pretty and a lot more complex than the god-awful Mii’s and serve a very good point. I love the fact that your friends are represented by their avatar in your friends list, and that their online status is judged by whether their asleep or awake. Nice little touch.

 

Xbox Live marketplace is the same as before, the new feature of being able to install games to reduce loading times is better than the current system on the Ps3 although Sony have nothing to worry about as disc space still hasn’t been increased. What I really want to know is, how is the Xbox HANDLING this? Yea It can do HD gaming but how the hell has it managed an interface this complex? The Dashboard was always rather jumpy I found and never really worked, yet now the Xbox button brings up the old dashboard as the bloody minor interface for when your in game! Insane!

 

So well done Microsoft, I consider this to be one of your strongest achievements since launch. Although, you COULD have done this at first you know, you weren't really being stopped…

 

 

It doesn't change my opinion on the Xbox as a whole, I still personally like the PS3 better but it’s certainly easier on the eye and now the software finally reflects the hardware.

 

But of course, it’s still the Xbox, and my good friend Bucko could not have made my day any other way when he said this:

 

My new Xbox experience involves a ring of red.”

 

Brilliant.

Wednesday 19 November 2008

Monkey Monga!

Guess what I found! My copy of Donkey Konga!

And guess what! It's so good I'm selling it!

Tuesday 18 November 2008

Blogging?




To blog about doing a blog is something I've refrained from doing, but In my opinion my posts have gone down hill a little lately and this is more for my sake...

I have done many, many blogs in my time (this being the only one that still exists) and as you can plainly see, they never really work out. So imagine my surprise when I start this that I actually enjoy doing it and have only missed around 4 days. To be honest, for me, that's a record breaking number.

The reason I enjoy writing this blog so much is that I focus on one particular topic that I have a lot of opinions on (Games, if you hadn't gathered) and therefore have updated it nearly every day since September.

However, over the past few weeks I believe my posts have went downhill, because I was hoping that every single post would be lengthy and have at least one intelligent point. But lately it's just been "lol Left 4 dead rockz". 

I can't promise anything, but I'm going to try and write more lenghty posts from now on :P

Also, if you haven't already, Check out my other blog Waste This Year.

Monday 17 November 2008

A Rare Dry Spell

It's not just me who thinks that this year has been a rather weak years for games am I?

I honest to God can't think of any good games that have came out apart from Grand Theft Auto 4 and Metal Gear Solid 4. Now however, we've got loads of great games coming out. Mirrors Edge, Far Cry 2, Fallout 3, LittleBigPlanet, Left 4 Dead... The list goes on and on. 

The thing that's killing me is, I don't know whether I prefer games coming out this way. Normally we have a dribble of good games being released throughout the year, but in 2008 we've had a drought until now, which can only be described as a fecking religious flood. It's impossible for this many great games to come out so close to each other.

On the bus today, a few friends of mine were talking about Wrath of the Lich King, another was talking about LittleBigPlanet and another was talking about Mirrors Edge. Every one of them sung it praises, and this surprised me. Normally you get a few people talking about one game for a while (Gears Of War being the obvious example), but the past few weeks has seen everyone got at least one game that they have enjoyed immensely. It's obscene!

Sunday 16 November 2008

Grand Theft Auto 4

The PlayStation 3 version of Grand Theft Auto 4 has just received Trophies, and therefore I am once again  addicted to the world of Niko Belic

The most amazing thing about the entire Grand Theft Auto series, is that your never disappointed when you play one. I was playing the original the other day, and in all seriousness I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it. Now, that doesn't normally happen. Especially when you've played the most recent up to date version (except in the case of Mario). Rockstar truly are the masters of the industry. No matter what they do, they will always deliver a game rich in narrative, with flawless game play and some gut wrenching good humour. Rockstar, I tip my hat sir.

Saturday 15 November 2008

Where Was I?!?!?!

I'll tell you where I've been hiding. I've been hiding in Left 4 Dead, possibly the best game ever made. 

Honestly, if you haven't downloaded the Demo do it right this instance. It is possible the greatest thing Valve have made to date. It's so damn FUN!

Tuesday 11 November 2008

Left 4 Dead

I didn't pre-purchase it, therefore I must wait. The Demo was meant to come out at 6:00PM according to one friend, while another claims it won't be available until 10:ooAM tomorrow. Knowing Valve, I'm going for the third option. Thursday night. 

Monday 10 November 2008

A Hidden Hatred

Long time readers of my Blog may have noticed a sort of hidden hatred for a certain Wii game "Red Steel". I've never actually justified this hatred, but I can inform you that it's because it's shit.

The other day I decided I was being too harsh on the old girl so I booted it up. Turns out it's still shit.

Sunday 9 November 2008

Torture!

It's here. LittleBigPlanet. The PS3's must have game of 2008 and perhaps even the whole of the consoles life. It's here. And I don't have it.

Yes that's right, despite the rave reviews, the fantastic advertising campaign and a friend on the bus pulling an actual copy out of his bag and then putting it away as fast as physically possible as he was actually afraid I was going to mug him I don't have it for one simple reason. Cash.

Why is it that these days, games seem more expensive than before? I can never remember paying £40 for a game from the Playstation era, yet now I feel like I've got a bargain if I pay that much. The big problem is, especially this year, is the amount of quality games being released. There's so much to buy, yet if you did get them all the overall price would be somewhere in the region of around £250!

To summarize? Games are expensive, There's too many of them, My foot is itchy and my internet was off yesterday. Overall, I'm upset.

Friday 7 November 2008

Dark Sektor

Got this when I got my Ps3 and have only really started playing it now. It's actually really good, even though it's about zombie men with killer Frisbees.... Actually why am I saying it like that's a negative point? That's freaking awesome!

It flows well, it's good fun to play and it's mental. Pretty too!

Thursday 6 November 2008

Mario kart!


Why was this not Mario Kart Wii? The graphics are like, a lot better. The overall feel seems more Mario Kart and the camera inclusion is a fantastic idea. Another wasted opportunity in my humble opinion...

Wednesday 5 November 2008

Old And Chunky

You know what. I don't care what other people think. I love my original DS. Yea it's got hundreds of scratches on the bottom screen, there's a million dents on the top of it and I only have one stylus left from a pack of ten but it's amazing.

So there.

Tuesday 4 November 2008

An Age Of Empires

One of the best RTS games ever made. Fact.

 It's simple, fun and deadly addictive. Agreed, it's not as fun as Warcraft 3, as polished as Warhammer Dawn of War and certainly not as good as Stronghold but it's still a great game. Especially how you can upgrade your cities and get supplies delivered to your base. Well good idea that. 

Monday 3 November 2008

Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles

I was playing this again yesterday for the first time in ages. It's a canny little shooting game and not too bad story wise either (apart from the quite frankly ridiculous final boss... I mean come on!)

I'd recommend a rental, but only if you have a mate who's willing to play it with you.

Sunday 2 November 2008

Yahoo!

You know what? Mario Kart 64 is still, to this day, the best Mario Kart ever made. Honestly, go play it on the N64 or download it from the Virtual Console. It's great in multiplayer. It's all me and my mate did on Halloween. 

Play it! Play it now!

Saturday 1 November 2008

The Art and Jumping


Now I've seen a hell of a lot of Game Adverts before but this is clearly the best. Gears Of War 2 may not have the potential to be Game of the year in my eyes, but this certainly the greatest game trailer ever made. Period.



Apart from that, I played the Mirrors Edge Demo yesterday. It was amazing, possibly one of the most original games I've played since Portal. It just works so well. One of my main concerns was that it would become stale and repetitive due to a faulty or broken control system but it's as fluent as you would expect. It's definitely one to look out for this Christmas!