New Resi 5 Stuff and Ps3 Update!

New Resi 5 DLC looks sweeeeet. Back to the Mansion. I'm looking forward to it already! I should really get round to playing Resi 5 again...

Also, the new PS3 update came out. Facebook features are a pleasant addition. The fact that my card got denied so I couldn't get Metal Gear Solid is just typical.

Top 5 Best Levels Ever

This week, the best levels ever.  Well in my opinion anyway. I haven't put them in any order either, because of the sheer amount of things I could have added. Also, you'll notice there are no retro games present. That's because games like Super Mario World, Sonic 2 and The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past are just perfect from beginning to end. 

1) Fort Frolic - Bioshock

God I love this. personally I think is the most exciting section of what is quite plainly a classic. It had everything. A sense of elegance, a sense of madness, visual and metaphorical decay and some of the most messed up characters in the history of videogames. Still, what do you expect from the guy who designed "The Cradle" from Thief? 

2) 2Fort - Team Fortress 2

Come on, I dare you to think of another level that is so perfectly made and so well balanced on an online game. Go on, do it. Don't worry, I can wait all day while you do. I'll be playing this, over and over and over again. Nothing compares, nothing comes close. It's the beauty of 2Fort. 

3) Ravenholm - Half Life 2

There's just something so... upsetting about Ravenholm. As you wander it's dark streets, fighting the zombie hordes, avoiding the traps set by the quite frankly mental Father Grigori, you can't help but realise that everything you've fought for, everything that everyones fought for, could be so easily destroyed in such a brutal way by the viscous combine... Classic stuff right here. 

4) ... Everything - LittleBigPlanet

See that? Everything inside that little box is complete genius. Every single little iota of it, is professional, polished and just damn fun. 

5) Hanger - Metal Gear Solid

This one may be just me but.... When you first stepped into the hanger on the PlayStation version of Metal Gear Solid... you just knew you were playing something special, something fresh, something unique. It's always going to be one of the best moments in gaming for me. 

Ahhh Summer!

So it was sunny today! Did I exploit this fact? Did I bollocks. I spent most of it indoors with my lovely Lady playing Resi 5 and Tomb Raider and did I mind? Did I hell! Was great fun :)

So I'm off now to have a mess around on Warhawk, which I obtained by accident xD

Resident Evil 5: The Quest Begins.... and Ends

So i've decided that I want to try and get 1000 gamerscore on Resident Evil 5. It was just a random descision, and part of me thought that I'd be able to do it. How wrong I was.

So there I was, guide in hand ( long story, my mate got it free when he bought the game. When I bought the game, I got an Xbox free. Strange world huh?) and the intentions of every achievement unlocked set firmly in my mind. Off I set on my adventure, and by chapter 2-1 I was stumped. See, I was in the mines and according to the guide there was a ruby lodged into the ceiling, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't find the damn thing. I spent a good twenty minutes searching for it, and eventually just ended up shooting everything in that area with my pistol until it fell off. Eventually it did, but I wasn't too pleased as you've probably already guessed.

Then I got to 3-1, and lo and behold, this BSAA emblem needed me to either be in co-op or, as the game stated, put another controller in and play by myself. This was the point I threw everything on the floor and played Episode 2. 

Co - Op Gaming

Anyone out there remember split screen gaming? You know, before Xbox Live? Well me and my girlfriend do. In fact, we never let it out of our sights. We're avid Timesplitters players and frequent Left 4 Dead enthusiasts, and recently have been playing Resi 5. 

Now, about a week ago, me and a mate finished Gears of War on splitscreen and I was thoroughly convinced that this was the best of the best. I was wrong. 

Go out there now children, and buy a second controller for your console of choice. Then get someone round. You're significant other like I do, you're best friend, your maid of honour, your hairdresser, the postman (it can be anyone) and sit down and play a good co-op game on splitscreen. Resident Evil 5 is possibly one of the best, but Gears of War, LittleBigPlanet and Left 4 Dead are extremely enjoyable.

Take a leaf out of my book. Play split screen. 

Top 5 Worst Videogame Quotes

So after a recent discussion it's been decided that from now on, pretty much once every week unless something seriously important comes up like Valve releasing the next Half Life game in a  toaster, I'll be making a short but simple top 5 list covering various topics and of course, reeking of personal opinion, and what a better topic to start on than God awful dialogue from our favourite games!

Of course, these go from worst to best ;)

1) "SHINE GET!" - Mario Sunshine (Gamecube)

Ok, so a lot of people won't agree with this but this has always been a pet peeve of mine. For a game that had been in development for so long, surely Nintendo could have translated such an important piece of dialogue a little... more professionally? 

2) "I might need you to play Twing Twang" - Heavenly Sword (PS3)

Not only was this line so utterly ridiculous but combined with the horrendously serious cutscene it appeared in, I'm not surprised if about half the owners of this game just turned it off by the plug. Twing Twang? This is a game about a freaking female version of Kratos, why the hell would she want to play a game called Twing Twang? I think one of the worst things about this was also because Sony deemed this one of the best games on the console... Pfffft

3) "Do you believe that love can bloom, even on the battlefield?" - Metal Gear Solid (Playstation One)

Now, don't get me wrong. I adore Metal Gear Solid, but my GOD does it have some of the worst cases of dialogue ever seen in video games. 90% of the time, the games so pretentious and stuck up it's own arse it's inside out. This quote, which actually makes me physically cringe everytime I hear it, is one of the worst. 

4) "I see the president has armed his daughter with... Ballistics now" - Resident Evil 4 (Gamecube)

Christ,  does this one even need an explanation? It's so out of the blue and just so random that it never ceases to make me laugh. God bless Capcom, believing that they can sneak in a cheeky chebs joke without breaking the flow of the story. Unfortunately however, they believed wrong.

   

5) "You were almost a Jill sandwich!" - Resident Evil (Playstation 1)

There are a plethora of quotes from this classic title that I could have used, but "Jill sandwich" is certainly the most humorous. A close second would of course the epicness of "Master of Unlocking" and that line about Chris's blood. I don't know what Capcom were thinking when they wrote this, or for that matter when they hired the voice actors, or when they released it! Still, it adds to the fact that this is still a pure joy to play.

Residentmee... Sorry. Resident Evil 5

Yahtzee reviewed Resdent Evil 5, and he did it pefectly. It's exactly my opinion!

Take everything in account, but understand that I loved it (regardless) and he's done my blog for me! 

Mwahahaha

Crackdown Heroes 5

Few things I wanted to chat about today.

 

I finished Resident Evil 5 (finally) and I can safely say it’s the best in the series. Hell I’d go as far as to say it’s one of the best games I’ve ever played. Exhilarating, action packed and more of a Resi game than Resi 4 was (story wise). Absolutely incredible. Especially the ending.

 

I got Crackdown for cheap today as well. Haven't played much of it but what I have played I’ve enjoyed.

 

I’ve played a lot of the Battlefield Heroes Beta and I can safely confirm that it’s surpassed all expectations. From a technical viewpoints it’s genius. Matchmaking takes literally seconds and all the games are completely lag free. From a game play perspective… well third person is the new first person in my opinion these days and graphically this game is beautiful. The simple and colourful maps and characters make it really easy on the eyes. I’d apply for a Beta invite if I was you :)

Resident Evil 5

Immense. There is no other word to describe it really. This is everything I hoped for plus more. The game play is exactly like Resident Evil 4, but the addition of the quick select does change the flow of the game a little more (i.e. if your not prepared before going into a fight, you’ll struggle trying to equip ammo etc.), the graphics are by far the best I’ve ever seen in a game and the story is… well. It’s true Resident Evil :)

 

The only thing that annoys me is that Capcom have actually taken Umbrella Chronicles into account… BOO!

Resident Evil 5

WANT  WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT

Don't have yet....

... But may well have it tomorrow....

.... On Xbox :D

Resident Evil 5

After playing the demo for the first time yesterday, I posted this as a topic on nFortress:

 

Decided to make a new thread, because It was released on the PS3 today. Well the demo was.
Here's my impressions then. I played through the first chapter and hated every second of it. It wasn't Resi 4, and it wasn't the original Resi's and quite frankly I was dissapointed. I sat in quiet hatred, mumbling to myself over every flaw.
Then I played the second bit, and ADORED every second of it. Then I played the first chapter again, and loved that too.
This game is everything I hoped it was going to be. The graphics are superb, the controls are perfect and the enemies are as good as they were on Resi 4. I'm not too keen on the co-op online, but who cares. You don't have to play it.
It's not the "Bastardisation" of the series that everyone was raving about. It's different, and that's never a bad thing. It's just changed that's all, and I wish more people would accept that.
Oh, and bear in mind, this is coming from a hardcore Resident Evil fan.
P.S. if anyone dares say "OMG YOU CAN'T MOVE AND SHOOT" I have one thing to say. GTFO of my game, you never could and you never will.

And would you believe it, everyone basically slated it. Beh.

 

Anyway, I personally can’t wait for release day!

Er… Resi?

I had a massive long blog planned for today, because I got my hands on Resi 5 and really wanted to talk about it.

 

But I just went on Quake Live… and I honestly can’t remember what I was gonna write. All I can say is, I need to have literally just stopped playing it to do it justice. It’s immense!

Resident Evil 5 Demo!

Capcom has confirmed that the Resident Evil 5 demo will be on PSN from Monday, February 2 - over a month before the game's release on March 13.
That's exactly a week after the demo is due to hit Xbox Live, on Monday, January 26.

The demo includes two-player split-screen and two-player online gameplay and single-player with AI help.
Unlike the 360 demo, which will only be available to Gold XBL members for the first week (silver as of Feb 2), the PS3 demo will be free for all from day one so get stuck in.

I just wet myself.

A World At War

I finished COD5 last night, and instead of giving you a straightforward answer, I’ve decided to eat my own words.

 

On the 28th of October 2008, I blogged about the “new Call of Duty” and what I thought about it. Now, I’m going to repost segments of that post and give my new opinions on them :P

 

Is it just me, or does COD 5 look really meh. Not just compared to COD 4, but compared to every shooter in the past year. It just looks.. Dull.

Yes. Yes that is just you.

 

Maybe it is me of course, I've seen millions of people salivating onto their shoes will mumbling something about Japanese guerrilla tactics but I can't see past the fact that it's set in World War 2 again. Call me old fashioned, but it's.... Old fashioned!

Can’t argue there. The World War 2 setting is old fashioned, and it certainly is dead. Dead, but not forgotten. The only reason Call of Duty: World At War manages to become something of a decent game is that it’s just Call of Duty 4 retextured. The story has been written by someone with a brain this time around, and the multiplayer is the same as it’s always been (never a bad thing!) The co-op aspects are also something of a very clever move.

 

Medal Of Honor died on it's arse because it kept trying and trying to make a different game but always managed to do the same thing ever time. Epic opening followed by linear levels involving about 3 Nazis every 5 steps.

Medal Of Honor did, and I blame that abysmal series for my hatred of World War 2 games. Medal of Honor Rising Sun was so god awful, it’s no wonder I wasn’t vaguely interested in World At War. However, playing COD5 has made me remember something very important. It isn’t Medal of Honor. It’s Call of Duty, which manages to completely flip the Medal of Honor method the other way around. I found on COD5 that the first level was very weak, and every level after that was superb.

 

I've seen COD5 in action, I've seen it with my own eyes and yes you can coo over the graphics and the flamethrowers but come on. It's just the first 3 Call Of Duty's and in my eyes, that's a very very bad thing.

It would be a bad thing if it resembled the first 3 COD games. But it doesn't. It’s more COD4, and that’s a very very GOOD thing.

But who knows, maybe I'll be eating my own words in a weeks time! Wouldn't surprise me.

Change that to three months time, and you’ll be absolutely right.

 

Original post

Too Many Games!

I'm currently experiencing something that can only be described as a "Brain aneurysm" caused purely by the sheer amount of games I have to play. Honestly, I got three for Christmas, bought two on Boxing day and today decided (and trust me, this decision is so hypocritical that my friend actually scoffed) to go out and buy Call Of Duty: World At War even though I've been slagging it off since the day it was announced. But hey! I did the same with the PS3 and I couldn't live without mine now.

So, over the next few days I wont have anything specific to talk about unfortunately, so I'm just going to be giving you random bursts of pure 100% opinion on what I'm currently playing or have heard over the grape vine that is my many friends (and the Internet) 

To start off, LittleBigPlanet online is fantastic. Ten times better than what I expected. Community maps are win. Utter win, and playing online with friends is nothing short of perfection.

Mirrors Edge has been holding my interest, but unfortunately it looks like it wont for very much longer. I'm already half way through.

Finally,  Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters is an amazing little game. I was just playing it for like an hour. Well good.

Resident Evil 5

I’m getting a little worried about Resident Evil 5. It all seems… Wrong. The scenario, the enemies, the….. *takes a deep breath*… the….. Co-Op…. Christ. Co-op? In a Resident Evil game? Sorry Capcom, do you even remember the God awful Outbreak spin offs? (Their not Resi games, don’t you dare even say they are.)

 

I have it pre-ordered for the PS3 and I am looking forward to it, just a little worried that's all…

A sense of duty

Is it just me, or does COD 5 look really meh. Not just compared to COD 4, but compared to every shooter in the past year. It just looks.. Dull.

Maybe it is me of course, I've seen millions of people salivating onto their shoes will mumbling something about Japanese guerrilla tactics but I can't see past the fact that it's set in World War 2 again. Call me old fashioned, but it's.... Old fashioned!

Medal Of Honour died on it's arse because it kept trying and trying to make a different game but always managed to do the same thing ever time. Epic opening followed by linear levels involving about 3 Nazis every 5 steps. 

I've seen COD5 in action, I've seen it with my own eyes and yes you can coo over the graphics and the flamethrowers but come on. It's just the first 3 Call Of Duty's and in my eyes, that's a very very bad thing.

But who knows, maybe I'll be eating my own words in a weeks time! Wouldn't surprise me.

What WAS the last great game?

A friend of mine struck a conversation topic I seem to have been avoiding as of late, last night. He said to me "What WAS the last great game?". Instantly, being me, I said Bioshock. 

But then I thought myself, hang on. I got Bioshock in September... Surely I've played better games since then. Well the Orange Box is probably my most played game of all time, Team Fortress 2 especially. But why didn't I say that straight away? Surely that must be the obvious choice? Well, thinking of it in hindsight, it didn't move me as much as Bioshocks story did. There wasn't as much thrill as exploring rapture for the first time. (It pains me to say that, it honestly does. But Bioshock beats Orange box by a mere millimetre) 

So then I pondered some more. I got loads of games for Christmas, one of them must have beat Bioshock and the Orange box? Surely it hasn't been almost 11 months since the last truly enjoyable game was released? I got Crysis, Unreal Tournament 3, Super Mario Galaxy, Mysims, Metroid Prime 3 and Sim City DS for Christmas. Not one lived up to expectations, and to be honest not one gripped me enough. Crysis got boring very quickly, as did Unreal Tournament 3. As for Mario Galaxy, well it was fun but it was just another Mario Game. 

It seems to me that the games market is becoming stale. Super Mario Galaxy was the first indication. It was meant to be a completely new Mario experience. It was just Mario. In space. Unreal Tournament 3 was just UT2004 with a healthy dose of LIQUID MUSCLE. And It was also, rather boring compared to the others. 

"But what about the others!?!" I hear you cry. "What about Grand Theft Auto 4? Metal Gear Solid 4? Surely these are sure choices!". Well, no. GTA4 is GTA3 in essence, but I can't argue that it's not a good game. Personally I love it, and I'm currently playing through it for the first time and enjoying myself immensely. But it's nothing groundbreaking, nothing immense. It's a good game. But not a great game. Oh, and Metal gear Solid 4? I haven't finished it yet, but It's still the same formula as the others. 

So now I've established there hasn't been a great game in around 11 months. That makes me rather cynical to be honest. Especially with games such as Resident Evil 5, Left 4 Dead, Little big planet, Tomb Raider Underworld and Mirrors Edge coming out. Will these games live up to expectations? Will they manage to make me feel an emotional connection to the game like Bioshock did? We'll have to see, because right now I don't even want to think about it.

Oh, and I didn't mention about Spore. I'll talk about that tomorrow.