Sneaky Sneaky

I’ve been playing a lot of “Stealth” games recently. I say “Stealth” in inverted commas because the first game I’ve been playing is Metal Gear Solid 2 and it’s not necessarily the most hardcore sneak ‘em up in the world. Still the best game ever made though.

Secondly, I’ve been playing Splinter Cell: Conviction, a game so surprisingly good that I’m going to absolutely bum it to bits at the next opportunity.

PC MW and a Revelation!

So after all the outrage of Modern Warfare 2 not supporting dedicated servers on the PC, the PC community have finally cracked the system.

Well done guys, I honestly mean it. Infinity Ward have really screwed you all over and it sucks, especially since you all supported that little game called Call of Duty back in 2003...

In other news, Metal Gear Solid is coming to the Playstation store this Thursday. I know the other day I asked you guys to get me a muffin and Peggle but you all seemed to have outperformed yourselves on this one! This is even better!

So next week Resi 2 and a flapjack yea?

Game Plan

I've been reading a book recently called "Game Plan: Great Designs that Changed the Face of Computer Gaming". It's all about ten games that completely changed modern gaming. It's dead interesting despite the fact that I don't entirely agree with the games listed (If you're interested the games are Populous, Tomb Raider, Super Mario 64, Metal Gear Solid, Gran Turismo, Street Fighter 2, Broken Sword 2, The Sims, Half Life and Everquest) but the most interesting thing about it is the interviews with the developers on the earlier titles (Mainly Populous, Super Mario 64 and Street Fighter 2).

The great thing about them is that the developers had no clue what on earth they were doing, and that most of the extraordinary things we see in videogames today were because of the mistakes made back then. Combos for instance, were created due to the animations in Street Fighter 2 not allowing the player fight back after receiving a hit. They weren't intentional at all, they were never meant to be there and that fascinates me.

Now if only I could make a revolutionary mistake....

Voice Acting

Quality voice acting in Videogames needs only two things in order to work. The first is a fantastic narrative and the second is believable characters, especially at least one you can emotionally connect with. The rest is simply down to decent voice actors.

The three games that I think have the best voice acting has to be... I would say, Uncharted Drakes Fortune, Metal Gear Solid 2 and.... Half -Life. Definitely those three.

Uncharted Drakes Fortune (and I presume Uncharted 2) has literally blockbuster quality dialogue and voice acting. Everything about it is just completely incredible, from the way that every syllable just completely conveys all of the emotion, all of the empathy all of the sadness all of the joy that each character feels... and of course the Banter! From Drake and Sully firing witty quips regarding a "Tasty Little Barmaid" to the way Drake anxiously chants "No, No No!" when a grenade gets just that little bit too close to his person. Genius. It's just fantastic, and really raises the bar for videogame voice acting, proving that famous celebrities do not a good voice actor make.

Metal Gear Solid 2 may not seem like a good choice, but do you seriously think YOU could say half of the dialogue without just wetting yourself laughing, or killing yourself? Personally I honour the voice actors in Metal Gear Solid because they just ARE the characters. Their voices just match their appearances perfectly.

Half Life 2. It's the same as Uncharted. A bit stale at points, I would certainly agree, but apart from that slight niggle... well come on. Think about it. It's certainly as cinematic as the game around it!

PS2 Titles On PSN

So there's a rumour going round that Sony are planning for Playstation 2 titles to be put onto the Playstation Network.

Personally I think this is a great idea, as long as they're not as expensive as the Original Xbox titles. Overpriced much? Kameo for £20? When you can get it in a shop for a fiver? Pffft.

Anyway, I'm excited if it's true. I would love to play Metal Gear Solid 2 again!

Three Games I Should Really Finish...

1) Crackdown

See, I would finish this straight away, but the thing is... well It's one of those games where you're REALLY enjoying it but then another game takes over and you just never go back to it.  You know? What do you mean "Lazy Gamer"?

2) Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Ok, so I never finished GTA4 either but I enjoyed this one much MUCH more than Rockstar's latest installment. However, this reached a point where it was harder than a Rhino's door (wow... worst analogy ever 0.o) and I just gave up. Well I say gave up, like Crackdown I gave up for another game. Hey don't look at me like that! It was Age of Conan! 

3) Metal Gear Solid 4

Hey! Don't look at me like that! I just, stopped... no... no... 

*jumps out window*

Next-Gen Laziness

I love my Ps3. Last night, I played an hour of Metal Gear Solid 4, 2 hours of Wipeout HD and then half an hour of Super Stardust HD. The last two were played while listening to my own music. 

The great thing? Didn't even have to move from my seat.