Perfection?

I went back to Tf2 last night. Played one game and I was hooked. Did quite well, considering I was being a Demoman. It was amazing. I can never get over the community, It's simply the best I've ever seen. Everyone has a competitive edge, whilst remaining friendly enough to talk to. 

So if you'll excuse me, I'm off to play it a bit more :P

Golden Oldie's

I hate it when people talk about "putting on the rose tinted glasses" and how old games are only worth playing because of the nostalgia they generate. Personally, I find it rather degrading. Old games are good in one of  two ways. Their either still good today or you have fond memories of playing them. Both, mean that at some point they were enjoyable.

When discussing old games I always have to mention two. Firstly, Dungeon Keeper as it was the first game I ever played and adored. Secondly, Theme Hospital as it was a game I actually despised as a child yet grew fond of it as a teenager. What really interesting, is that their both developed by Bullfrog. That's not the point of the Blog but it's worth a mention. 

So recently, Theme Hospital has found it's way into my computer and I'm hooked again. I'm already halfway through and the pressures on. What's so great about old games is that they were always so challenging, so unique. They always had the right amount of features and worked perfectly, unlike most modern day games where I'm normally sitting there wishing that the developer had included X Y and Z.  Although, this was only true for certain games between around 1997 and 1999 in my humble opinion. 

A Flawless Victory

I was playing Bad Company last night, and as I was getting decorating the wall behind me with essence of brains and my ears were filled with the piercing screech of a grenade that just went off in my face something occurred to me. The FPS genre has been perfected. 

Lets go back four years ago. The FPS genre was milked like the worlds fattest cow and my God was that cow tired and barely alive. We had "Innovate" new features such as bullet time, real time weapon switching and weapon upgrading. While most of this is now the standard (apart from the hideous bullet time) it wasn't exactly executed perfectly back then.

But like all things, I believe that all this experimentation has helped craft the perfect FPS formula. COD4 is probably the perfect example of this. Unforgiving enemies, complex AI, weapons that pack a punch and breathtaking online modes. Can you honestly imagine any FPS's not using a ranking system in online for the next few years? I can't. It just works so well. 

Bad Company's a good example too. Sandbox warfare, powerful weapons, vehicles. It works well because, quite frankly, DICE perfected vehicle warfare as well as a sandbox battlefield for online modes. 

In my opinion, the FPS's days are numbered. But until then, were going to be playing near perfect versions of all the classics. 

In Our Darkest Hour

Fallout 3 looks good. Very, Very good. 

I wasn't that excited about it until the other day. I've never played the originals, and to be honest I've never had a good relationship with Bethesda. I personally found Oblivion quite stale and unimpressive (although many, many people will care to argue with that view.) But Fallout 3 should make me and Bethesda best friends. I hope. 

But I downloaded the latest trailer for it the other day and fell in love, and I think It was all because of the opening. A 1950's infomercial, filled with a hearty dose of black comedy and fantastic Bioshock esqué animations. Oh and robots and nuclear war. I love the idea of the Vaults and Vault boy could already be one of the greatest mascots ever made and he hardly does anything apart from giving the camera a hearty thumbs up every once in a while. 

What out me off about Fallout 3 in the first place was the landscape. It looked too grey, even for a post apocalyptic version of the Earth. But now it's OK, because along with all the grey there's also going be a lot red. Lots and lots of crimson red blood, spewing from the shattered carcasses of zombies. And this friends, is why I'm becoming REALLY excited. 

No I'm not some kind of serial killer by trade, but the story looks to be fantastic. Promising radiation, zombies, gore, civilisations of trapped humans and a really simple RPG system. Could Fallout 3 be the game of the year? Well if Bethesda realise where Oblivion's faults lay then yes, yes it could. 

The Future?

Just a few quick thoughts today. I think I've discovered the future of videogames. I downloaded the Demo of super stardust HD the other day and realised something. You can download additional levels, modes and even an Online function separately of the PSN. Is this how games will eventually be played? Will games be available for download only? Perhaps we'll find ourselves only downloading a "base" package of a few levels for a cheap price, then choosing to pay for additional levels, online features all for a small fee. Surely that way, games will be more accessible to play? Especially with the price of new games these days. Personally, I'd like to see this happen. 

A Little Respect?

I'm pretty sure all owners of a next generation console will be able to relate to this post.

Since I got my PS3 around a month ago, a lot of people have turned their noses up at my decision. Now I'm not being.... Erm.... Consoleist (!?!?) but I find this quite immature. It's mainly Xbox 360 owners, claiming they have superior online, a better selection of quality games and that overall their console "Pwns" in all areas unlike the PS3 which is "teh Suxxors". 

Now what really bothers me is this. Firstly, I have no problem with the Xbox. I think it's a great machine, offering crisp HD and a fantastic online community. What bothers me is that I give their console praise, they smite me down for my decision, urinating all over my personal preferences. Secondly, I'm content with my decision and personally very happy. But for some reason, a lot of people can't accept that.  

So this got me thinking, why is it that there's always been rivalry between consoles? The SNES and the Megadrive? The Playsation 1 and the N64? The Playstation 2 and the Xbox? Why is it that no-one can accept that both consoles have  enough cons that neither are technically "Superior"? Is it down to what games are exclusive on the console? How good the graphics are? Maybe it's down to just how darn good the console looks in general, or maybe even which controller is more "Comfy" (God I've heard that argument so many times). 

These days, the main factor is surely which console pumps out the best HD, and which console has the best Online community and both the PS3 and Xbox excel in both categories. Only the Elite Xbox has HDMI, while it's standard on all PS3 models. However, Xbox Live offers a far simpler online community than the PS3, yet the online on a PS3 is standard. 

I'm not here to argue, it just bemuses me that people will fight till their wits end over consoles that are clearly the same... Yup, I said it. 

Hang Ten

Sometimes, a game comes along that just blows your mind. It's always a simple one, almost arcade like in style yet  manages to leave a lasting impression unrivaled by most high budget games. Also, it's normally addictive to the point that it should be a class A drug. Audiosurf, manages to fit into all those categories. 

The premise is so simple and executed so perfectly that it's mind boggling that Audiosurf wasn't made a long time ago. Ride any music file, avéc Guitar Hero. I mean come on. It's insane. Any music file boots up in mere seconds and yet manages to deliver a near religious experience (yea that quotes nicked. So what).

The best way to describe Audiosurf is this: Imagine Guitar Hero, crossed with Burnout mixed with the Winamp visualisations. That sums it up perfectly in my opinion. 

The greatest selling point of this of course, is that this game does not become a new experience when a new update is released, or when a new mod is created. It becomes a new game whenever you play a new album, a new song or an audio book (OK that may seem slightly farfetched but people do it for the achievements)

If you don't at least try this game, then your missing out on one of the most innovate and refreshing PC games to date.