Good to be a gamer right now

Since I let my LOTRO subscription expire last month I have been relishing in the variety gaming has to offer right now.

Trials HD continues to entertain. Although the first couple of hours can seem frustrating perseverance really pays off as you find yourself improving organically rather than by trial and error. Modern gaming has taken a worrying trend towards more casual progress. Most games these days involve simply plodding through the content rather than having to develop skills in order to progress, so Trials HD really is worth championing to us more old-skool gamers.

Which brings me on to Shadow Complex. This game represents the future of gaming as far as I can see. Of the new breed of premium arcade games, this is a highly polished mass-appeal exciting adventure romp all for the budget price of £10. The difficulty is also relaxed depending on which setting you choose aligning itself with modern gaming habits.

I personally do not find this game as addictive as Trials but Shadow Complex seems much more significant in terms of the direction in which gaming is heading.

The Beatles Rock-Band was one of the big E3 games I did not want to miss out on. After being disappointed with my first guitar game Guitar Hero World Tour last Christmas I decided The Beatles might suit my more specific tastes and help improve on my musical knowledge. I have never actually owned any music from The Beatles I am ashamed to say and as I already had a compatible controller it seemed like a no-brainer. And it is a very nice package. Rather than a quick reskin, this is a perfect treasure trove for any Beatles fan with top notch presentation throughout including never before heard studio chatter during loading screens. Like a good music album, this game is best savoured occasionally rather than being played daily.

Gran Turismo on the PSP finally landed last week and whilst I would not say it was worth the many years of waiting for it, it is the first game for a few years that I actually wanted to buy and play on it! My PSP can consider itself a gaming machine again rather than an expensive door-stop. It is technically very impressive running in a silky smooth 60fps (!) although the number of on-track cars has been reduced to a stingey four to compensate for this.  The last GT I owned was number 2, so the tracks seem very varied to me offering much more colourful Sega-like vistas rather than the more mundane realistic raceways. No internet multiplayer is a big disappointment though.

The game also prompted me to upgrade my PSP to an official firmware, something I hesitated in doing - for a few seconds. When I consider how many hours I wasted on my cracked PSP trying to get shit to work and in the end all I really got was a few hours worth of the few MAME games that actually worked. Ok, the PS1 emulator was cool, but I've been there and done that now. As a passionate and somewhat older gamer I can only be bothered with games I know are great or I'm personally excited about and so would rather spend the money on them than download them illegally. It's just great to have a PSP game that I want to play again!

Next on the agenda is Operation Flashpoint 2, a name that gets me excited seeing how much I enjoyed the openness and realism of the original. So much so I have actually pre-ordered it to play for this weekend, not something I have done for many years (excluding GTA4 which I had to end up cancelling anyway). I'm not a huge fan of normal linear path FPSes so I really hope the sandbox structured OF2 Dragon Rising is a commercial success.


Becoming active on the Edge Forum was also a great move - dozens of 360/PS3 friends on tap to play the latest games!

On the horizon at the end of the month beckons the mighty Forza 3 threatening to squash GT5 with it's seemingly superior racing gameplay - if slightly inferior visuals.

And that's not counting Batman Arkham Asylum and the New Episodes of GTA4 that will have to just wait in the queue!

Trials HD Review

Trials HD is a masterclass in twitch-balancing(tm).

You either like that kind of core style of gameplay or you don't. Those that do are in for a real treat.

A no-nonsense bare-bones mechanic dressed with lovely lighting effects and explosions, the physics element compliments the game very well. The initially seeming simple controls (lean forward, lean back + analogue accelerate and brake) have a surprising amount of depth when combined with tricky landing angles and steep slopes. Some of the obstacles are puzzle like and take a while to work out, similar to Trackmania.



After cutting your teeth on the 'medium' tracks, switching to 'hard' is like a slap in the face despite the warning of "the real game starts here". One thing that helps the maniac-like addictiveness is the frequent checkpoints. The first very difficult bit I encountered was leaping from one large ball to the other on the second hard track. But I seemed to have no problem pressing the reset button every 5 seconds 300 times taking 20 minutes to get passed the same obstacle!

Like any twitch game, practise makes perfect. Things seem a lot easier returning to easy/medium and much faster times can be made. Talking of which, all your friends times are automatically listed next to yours on every screen (not sure why every game does not do this) which promotes competitive play with your online buddies.

The mini games are top drawer too. Each one seems unique and not just a derived slightly changed mode. The pinball and broken bones are two of the strongest.

One of the best games to hit XBLA and the best 'twitch' game I've played for ages.

Secret of Monkey Island SE - Review (PC Version)

I forced myself to fire up Monkey Island SE for the fourth or fifth time so I could complete it and get it out of the way. That was how I felt on loading up the game - but it's actually a harsh sentiment on what is a golden nugget of gaming history.

Having missed the original game the first time around and considering it's reputation, I was very pleased on hearing of a modern updated special edition being released to celebrate it's er 19th Birthday. On seeing the price of £6 I jumped aboard (pardon the pun) eager to experience what is meant to be the funniest point and click adventure ever.

I'm happy to report it's still very funny, which surprised me actually being two decades old. Some of the gags are hilarious with lots of self aware humour and repeated catchphrases too. The reasonable voice acting complements the rib-tickling very well and a special mention has to go to my favourite characters, the jazz-handed used ship salesman Stan and the grumpy old shop keeper who has a great line : "I suppose I could trek all the way across the island - AGAIN!" Of course, you had to be there.

The visuals are nothing to write home about, although I could not imagine them being better considering the budget price and to be fair some of the backdrops are nicer than others. In fact by pressing a button at anytime in the game you can switch back to the original version in real-time and that is when you can truly appreciate how far gaming graphics have come in the last 20 years.

The main problem of the game though is the same problem that caused the 'Point and Click' adventure genre to disappear some 15 years ago. The gameplay mechanic is just too darned simple forcing the designers to throw bizarre 'puzzles' at you to keep you challenged, some of which you would never get in a million years.

This conveniently brings me on to the very helpful 'H' button which gives you tips if you are stuck, eventually shouting the answer out if press it enough times. Its inclusion is a testament to how impatient us gamers are in modern times, preferring to zap through content instead of scratching our heads at a barrier. Still, I feel I got my moneys worth as I played through most of the first half of the game without the need of assistance.

A highlight was defeating the sword master by learning witty retorts by fighting pirates passing by - hilarious. A definite purchase for Monkey Island fans or veteran gamers who missed out the first time and are curious of the game's legacy.

LOTRO : Winding down

So it's been a few months since a new area (Lorien) and the server seems to be fairly quiet in the middle of this summer holiday season.

So what have I done in the last few weeks?

Not much really. Done the turtle run again and actually won his head as a trophy for my house. Been to Skumfil and finally managed to complete my class quest so becoming a Martial Champion and now have the invincible skill which upgrades the adamant buff skill but also resets some very significant cool downs.

Oh and I got my arse kicked again in Dark Delvings, but then that is supposed to be the hardest boss in the game.

My sub ends next month and it's looking very likely that I will take a break from it and enjoy some other games.

LOTRO : Book 8 finished! (spoilers)

So, after my previous post I am rather relieved to report that the final chapter (6) is a lot easier than the rest of the book!

Quite a fun instance actually, the 3 man run which we completed first time took about twenty minutes and contains no adds at all, just six or seven big monsters that are fairly easy to despatch - as long as you bring poison and fear pots.

One of the bosses encountered in Vol2 Book8 Chapter6

After collecting the third piece of armour completing the book8 set, I had that familiar feeling of 'Well, what do I do now?" All I have left are the 6man instances - some of which I have not even been to yet. I would love to take a break right now but my subscription lasts until mid-september. I'll see how I get on with finding 6-man groups - I just now how tough the Hard Modes are, but I might get a lucky run...

I also had another go at the Turtle raid in the same session and actually won a barter Nimrodel Emblem, I ran to the nearest Barter excitedly only to be let down with disappointment - you need four of these things to acquire a 1st age weapon, oh well...

LOTRO : Tough Book 8 Instances

I could just maybe be nearing another 'burnout phase' for LOTRO as I seem to be playing it less and less. With no new areas planned on the horizon all I have to work with is the new Book 8 epic quest chain and the various end game instances a lot of which I have not even tried yet.

But the population of the server seems to be going through a burnout and it is infectious. When most of the kin is unwilling to partake in any group quests and even the global channel is quiet what can one do after a couple of hours of boredom except log off?

Anyhow I have been struggling through Book 8 and I think it is possibly the toughest book yet and I have only reached Chapter 5!


Chapter 1 is a very though solo instance as reported in my previous post. Chapter 2 is just an A to B to C quest. Chapter 3 is a very tough 3 man instance followed by another tough 3 man instance for Chapter 4.

I like the fact the epic chain integrates with areas that are actually stand alone instances in their own right - though that could be considered as economic development. But these new 3 manners are so tough you actually need a Lore Master and a Minstrel to supplement the third person. If you are a heavy armour user expect the usual 700 Silver repair bill at the end of a tough session.

I'm not sure if the difficulty is actually a good thing or not, but the frustrating thing is finding a caster and a healer to do the run when everyone is in holiday season.

I have also been enjoying Secret of Monkey Island SE - lovely funny game well worth £7. I'll blog more about it when I have finished it.

In non-LOTRO gaming I have recently bought Braid a lovely old-school style puzzle-platformer for Xbox Live Arcade. Very charming and nostalgic with very tough time warping puzzles.

I also tried the new Free-to-play Battlefield Heroes which is a lot of fun, as you would expect Battlefield multiplayer warplay in a nice and bright cartoon landscape. Had trouble getting into the game last time I tried though...

In LOTRO Book 8 has provided lots of new content :

A fully fledged 12-man raid comparable to The Rift
Some new 3-man instances which are always welcome
A tough but enjoyable new epic chapter

Chapter 1 is quite a tough solo instance, took me a few goes to complete which is unusual for solo instances. Next up is Chapter 3 which requires me to visit one of the 3-man instances Hall of Mirrors.

The Champion's nerf hit home last night as I was unable to aggro the Hard Mode boss in the Grand Stair which I used to be able to do. Ah well just as well I already have the radiance boots. :)

LOTRO : Enjoying Moria's end game

I made it fairly clear in my blogging that I was not a huge fan of Mines of Moria, partly due to burnout and partly also to the winter blues that I often suffer from.

But that was a little unfair to Moria as it is a fantastic achievement in terms of the scale and variety of the environments, even if they are all underground and in the dark.

I reached the end game a few weeks back having thoroughly enjoyed questing through lovely Lorien and Book 7 (which asks you to return to Moria). To me the 'end game' does not mean you have reached maximum level, that almost seems irrelevant to me.

No, the 'end game' to me means you have explored all the solo questing areas and epic chain to your satisfaction and have only the high end instances that offer high end gear left to challenge.

I have to say I am enjoying the end-game for the moment and although I cannot see my enjoyment lasting for much longer, it is just as well then that Book 8 is due to be released imminently for more epic story thrills.

Book 8 will reveal some nasty bosses in Waterworks

I am done with solo questing pretty much. I skipped a lot of the Moria solo quests, particularly in Flaming Deeps and Redhorn Lodes while I was chasing the epic chain but I still have no desire to return to them.

To me nowadays standard solo questing is grinding. The stories are not enough to want me to do solo quests just because they are there. The only solo quests I like to do are the epic chain.

I get much more enjoyment from doing the instances with friends and getting a chance at the rewards that they bring (however slim). Although I think I am done with Grand stair now I have utterly completed it (got the radiance piece). If an instance (or turtle raid for a shot at a First-Age weapon) is unavailable I prefer to work on my traits these days, as stat improvements are a bigger pull for me than formulaic text based stories.

Once I have completed Book 8 (due very soon) I may take a break from LOTRO so I can enjoy some other games before the next new area is released.

LOTRO : Grand Stair HM Strategy

So the other night in Lord of the Rings Online I managed two firsts in one go:

• I completed a Moria instance (Grand Stair) in Hard mode!
• I won the roll and gained my first Radiance armour piece!

By the end of the night we had managed two runs through the Grand Stair so I thought I would blog the strategy we used while it is still fresh in my mind.

So we had myself the Champ, a Minstrel, a Burglar, an LM, a Guardian and a Hunter. This is probably not the most ideal group, but this is what we had.

So to succeed in Hard mode to get a chance of winning a radiance piece the first part is to get from the first boss (which is right at the start of the instance) to triggering the second boss (turn right at the crossroads) within ten minutes.

As you get near the second boss you will nearly be out of time, so usually one of the group has to run forward past the mobs to trigger the second boss. This will result in large numbers of mobs running back to the main group likely resulting in a wipe.

But the wipe does not matter - the most important thing is to trigger the second boss within ten minutes. Once you have done that (wiped or not) you can relax and make your way through the instance to the final boss Igash.

Chase me around your throne Igash!

When you get to the final boss area clear all the mobs first. You then have to face Igash the Fanatic, who has three servants. Two archers who will respawn as they are killed and a Devoted.

Hard mode dictates that you have to kill Igash without killing the Devoted servant.

We tried a few different things with our group racking up our repair bills and eventually came across a strategy that works and it definitely works as we tried it twice.

So the minstrel stands near the cart not too far away from the throne so he can keep everyone healed. The loremaster needs to keep the minstrel powered up but also help in the fight where he can.

So it was decided that the guardian should keep the two archers at bay keeping their aggro and killing their respawns.

Now the boss has a deadly AoE but he needs a line of sight to his victim to use it, so someone has to kite the boss around his throne in circles trying to keep the aggro. If you keep the throne between your line of sight with Igash he cannot do his AoE.

This role was between the hunter (lots of threat) and me the champ as we could not keep the aggro all to ourselves. Hopefully the hunter will keep the aggro for the most part leaving the champ to hit the boss as hard as he can as Igash runs past. If the champ gets the aggro then he kites the boss in circles around the throne until the hunter can regain it. Repeat this which takes a while until Igash is dead.

The devoted should be ignored at all costs, if he dies then Hard mode is over. The burglar should try and start fellowship attacks for power and morale and stabbing the boss as he runs past.

This strategy definitely works, we did the whole instance in 45 minutes on our second run and beat the boss in one go.

Good luck!

E3: day 2 Sony and Nintendo

E3: Day 2

Nintendo seemed weak this year, a new Mario and Metroid game, some wierd ring adapter and not much else...

Sony had a much more solid showing.

Their main thing interestingly was the PSP, and finally some good games coming out for it! A new MGS game, GT mobile out in October and Uncharted looked great too. All three are potential buys.

PS3 announced an exclusive Rockstar game : Agent, and didnt show it.

New ICO game looked good, thought GOW3 looked dated imo, but I'm not a huge fan anyway. GT5 looked mega... and some more motion controller things that did not look as good as the MS one. In general the Sony conference was flatter and not as punchy as the Microsoft presentation.

E3:, MS announce motion controller Natal and Metal Gear

So the first day of E3 has been and gone, Microsoft won the day with lots of announcements.

The biggest centred around MS's new motion controller named Natal, apparently using full body motion capture, face recognition and voice control combined.

"

Video Games | Project Natal | E3 09: Project Natal Intro

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

The video looks neat, but will it really work on such a hard core platform? This will depend on integrating the controller with real games, not just family-friendly casual efforts. The trailer does semm to point to 'proper games', but only time will tell if this is actually feasible.

Another big announcement was a new Metal Gear game on 360 called Rising featuring Raiden - not Snake. Still, MGS used to be a firm exclusive for Sony, so this is still quite big.

MS also trumpeted the fact that Facebook and Twitter will be integrated into the 360 dashboard. I'm not sure if I would use it, but it's there if you want it.

The expected games at E3 were there :

StarWars : Old Republic trailer:

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09 ... playerfeat

Metal gear rising (not so expected):

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09 ... gear/50036

Assasins Creed 2

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09 ... playerfeat

Beatles : Rockband

http://www.eurogamer.net/videos/e3-the- ... st-trailer

Forza 3

http://www.eurogamer.net/videos/e3-forza-3-gameplay

Crackdown 2

http://www.eurogamer.net/videos/e3-crackdown-2-trailer

Another surprise was that Left4Dead 2 would be out as soon as the fall, 'exclusive' to 360 and PC. The second L4D will be a bigger game and have much more depth in terms of the co-op.

LOTRO : Book 8 Dol Guldur notes released!

I already knew my class the Champion was going to get nerfed (made less powerful), but that is about the biggest impact on the changes for the next update to Lord of the Ring Online : Book 8 due next month.

If you have not seen them yet, the patch notes for Book 8 are here.

I always felt my Champ was rather useful despite not having all the latest lvl 60 gear. As long as you have reasonable armour and traits you can switch from full-on DeePeeS™ mode to tank by simply switching to Glory stance (to generate more threat) and equipping a heavy shield.

So Turbine felt that the Champ's versatility was putting the Guardian's role in jeopardy so they felt a nerf was required. Looks like all they have really done is to limit the legendary skill Controlled Burn's time to 2.5 minutes but to sweeten the shock they have also added a few extra buffs while it does last. The other major change is a penalty against incoming morale (from other players) when using Fervour - the main DeePeeS™ stance. So I will have to remember when playing in fellowships that if I'm not getting enough morale from Minstrels I should think about turning off Fervour!

It is no surprise also that Book 8 features goings on from the evil forces of Dol Guldur, although the action is set in Moria - no mention of any Dol Guldur instances. Boo.

No pics of Book 8 yet so here is my first take-down proof of the raid Turtle, sadly it just dissappears shortly after it's death so no corpse shot available!

LOTRO : Turtle Raid - Spoilers!

I have recently changed kin in LOTRO to the Eleventy-First. The two leaders are great and made me feel welcome straight away, it also helps that I have a couple of old friends in the kin too. Everyone seems to be playing the new Turtle raid at the moment, so I thought it would be a great opportunity to get to know my kin a little better.

Now there are some Tolkienites that mock the very idea that there should even be a giant turtle in Middle-Earth. I don't have such problems myself - Tolkien may not have thought of writing about a giant turtle, but he didn't forget to include the giant elephants, spiders and eagles did he? I suppose a turtle should probably not be part of the forces of evil, but I'm willing to let that slide.

Falin the Brave attacks from underneath...

So then, this turtle raid is just a 10 minute fight if you did not know that. There are no pre-req's or quests required or hours of grinding before hand - just enter the instance in the middle of the Water-Works, trudge though a couple of corridors and you are ready to face a nice little 12 man boss fight.

The catch is that it's a very hard fight and a bit of a DPS-fest.

I have not managed to defeat the turtle yet, but the favourite strategy seems to involve the groups strongest champion taking all the aggro and dps-ing his/her heart out. This leaves the guardian free to keep the champ constantly Shield-Walled which in theory keeps the champ protected from those nasty DOTs.

...then decides attacking from behind is more sensible

The guardian's shield wall takes a lot of power though, and this seems to be the main problem. Once we get the beast down past 200k morale the group quickly runs out of power. Another issue is that the hunters are always instructed to switch to an aggressive stance towards the end of the fight. When this happened I just could not keep the aggro (I happened to be the aggro-ing champ for a few of the fights), although this issue is probably secondary to the losing power one.

It's a nice challenge though, I have wiped nearly 10 times so far but the rewards include first-age weapons for a couple of lucky raiders. If you don't normally raid, but fancy a one-off 10 man boss fight, I recommend you try it.

Return to GTR2

I loved Race Driver:Grid when I got it.

The graphics blew me away, the best my trusty 8800GT has ever rendered. The handling was also pretty good, with fast and furious 3-5 lap races. The action alone made it the best driving game for a long time.

GRID : Great action orientated racer

But I have struggled to get into it lately. Like Gran Turismo there are loads of different class races to attend and you can quickly get lost after the first few hours. It actually gets quite tough later on too, unless I just got worse due to lack of playing the game.

I have had no Internet for the last few days and noticing the GTR2 icon on my desktop I thought I would give it a shot and I am pleased that I did.

Knowing that the ageing game has a graphics glitch (if you choose high quality cockpit, the frame rate judders even if you have a decent video card) I chose my graphics settings carefully wanting to get the most out of my card but so it was still smooth.

Cockpit quality : low
Car livery : low
Car detail : high
Wheel detail : high
Track detail : high
Resolution : 1440x900 (native) 32-bit colour
Shadows : low
Reflections : low
Headlights : high
Maximum number of visible cars : 8
Full screen Anti-Aliasing : x1

I could probably raise the settings a bit, I think it's just the high quality cockpit interior that causes problems.

GTR2 - Current king of the racing sims

I chose Spa for a race weekend and tentatively selected practice to get my eye back in. It felt lovely. Sure the latest season you can play is 2004 and the graphics had aged somewhat, especially with something as glossy as Grid still in my memory. But it felt great to be back playing a proper simulator, a game where I know if I do not increase the tire traction from realistic to 2x I won't last five minutes.

It was great nursing my car carefully around the track adjusting slowly to a simulator-class racing game. Failing miserably in qualifying (second from last I think) I dreaded the 7 lap race.

But then it was night-time and I had to turn on my headlights so I could see anything at all on the track in front of me. The headlight effects are great, even for Directx9. And I did not do too badly at all. I took it steady at first, naturally. But so did the other drivers it seemed so I quickly started overtaking some of the back markers. "This is fun!" I thought, concentrating on each corner, trying to slow down enough as it is so easy to end up in the gravel pit.

On the third lap I was chasing more challenging racers in the middle of the pack and still managing to push past them... Then on the fourth lap I either got tired or lazy or both, or more likely still started to lose tire grip and made my first mistake. I did not slow down enough and had to bounce the car across a gravel pit helplessly watching two cars instantly speed past.

The rest of the race was damage limitation, but I managed to hold my position and finish with a respectable 7th place. Can't wait for another go tonight!

This revisit to the current king of the racing sims could prepare me nicely for Codemasters' forthcoming F1 simulator which apparently has been delayed until 2010.

LOTRO : Level 60 reached

I had a lot of fun playing LOTRO the other night. I met up with a couple of friends and tackled the two 3-man instances of Eregion : the Library and School of Tham Mirdain.

They are quite difficult runs when you consider they are meant for level 52/53, but with the group I was with (myself a 59 Champ, 57 hunter and 53 Minstrel) the difficulty seemed just right. Knowing that I would have to tank, I made the mistake of forgetting to bring a one handed weapon (so I could equip my shield). Swinging around my legendary two handed axe I was taking quite a bit of damage to begin with, the Minstrel trying to heal me as fast as he could. Fortunately I found a one handed weapon en-route, a weak level 52 one, but it would let me equip my shield.

Shield equipped I could tank much more effectively using Glory to attract as much threat as possible. We did struggle a few times with some of the bosses, but the challenge was just high enough to enjoy ourselves without getting frustrated. Both instances are nice and short too, we managed both of them in less than two hours despite wiping a few times.

Then when cashing the quests in I dinged level 60 and was able to finally equip all the lvl 60 gear I had been lugging around with me for the last couple of levels!

I have been enjoying LOTRO now for five weeks since my passion for it was rekindled on hearing about the Lorien content. I am not sure how long this run will last though. I still have a few quests to do in Lorien and I suppose I have a few instances in Moria I have not ventured into yet, although I have no interest in chasing the radiance pieces (4-6 runs of each instance for each piece - no thanks) or indeed any Moria quests for that matter. The Etten moors (PvP) is always another source of entertainment if things look bleak, either playing as my Champ or with my recently rolled Warg.

I suspect there is enough to keep me going until Book 8. My money is on Dol-Goldur for Book 8 by the way, unless Book 7 is very tricksy ;)

LOTRO easter adventures

I've been playing LOTRO quite a bit lately, Book 7 has been released since I last blogged about it and as usual it has brought a fair share of complainers and bugs with it.

The much derided Quest Guide seems useful to me, I hate it when I can't find something and using the guide seems better than breaking out of the client and Googling it. Although it's a good idea being able to switch it on and off, the devs need to make it easier to do so rather than having to go into your options. I suspect it's too tempting to just leave it on even if you don't really want to use it.

The big book 7 bug for me is the glitchy DX10 lighting, particulary in the deeps of the shadow refuge (Foundations of stone) where it seems to be hit and miss if the floor decides to draw itself. A client restart fixes the issue, but a bit of a bummer if you haven't yet done book 6 most of which is down there.

Because I haven't been playing LOTRO much over the winter, after completing book 6 I had a double whammy reward presenting itself. Not only are there loads of quests to do just outside the Eastern Moria gate whilst strolling alongside the large Mirrormere lake, you can also enter Lorien proper so gladly I did in order to carry on with Book 7.

Lorien is nice, but I also think it's just great to be out of Moria and into a new pretty area. Some minor quibbles though, a few orcs roaming around the Elven wood (I thought Galadriel's power prevented this?), and warps to flet platforms when you click on a rope ladder. I would have enjoyed seeing my fat Dwarf attempt to climb a tree. At least the flets are not instances, try jumping off it's a long way down! I quite enjoyed the story content of Book 7 even if it asks the unthinkable, to return to Moria...

Last night I also enjoyed The Forgotten Treasury, a level 56 6-man instance that only takes about 30 minutes. So my kin made a couple of runs and I managed to complete all the quests bar one and gain lots of item exp and other goodies.

I also had a go at sorting out my legendary items. I was shocked to discover you cannot get rid of the original legendaries, so I have equipped a level 59 two handed axe and item and have various other legendary items leveling in the background. All good for the stats I suppose...

Resident Evil 5 Demo - My thoughts

So as I wait patiently for the LOTRO servers to come back online with the new Lorien Book 7 content, it gives me a chance to talk about other games!

Resident Evil 4 was certainly a blessed game when it was released four years ago. At the time of 2005 the Resident Evil franchise had become stale after ten years of pushing the survival horror adventure genre into the mainstream audience. Of course the original game launched in the mid-nineties owed a lot to the seminal PC series Alone in the Dark, but Capcom managed to polish the concept up and offer it to the Playstation generation. But after a few sequels of pre-rendered backgrounds, fixed cameras and restricted controls, a change was required to reinvigorate the series.

RE4 certainly did that. Pushing the Game Cube's graphics to the limit, the game threw the original template out of the window and introduced an over the shoulder camera, free-aiming and a much more action orientated game. This formula successfully produced probably the best roller-coaster ride to date, especially when you consider the ride lasts some twenty five hours and rarely stops for breath.

So four years later comes Resident Evil 5 which has a lot to live up to. I have played the demo for about an hour and sadly have decided it does not.

As expected for one of Capcom's flagship series, the visuals and presentation are top drawer and do not let down RE4's ground breaking graphics of that time. But unfortunately Capcom have decided to introduce co-op play, even if you play solo an AI colleague will be at your side. This dynamic changes the whole game and instead of enjoying being scared on your own, you now have to worry about saving your friend's butt and waiting for them to save you if you get knocked to the floor.

With lots of different joypad buttons to worry about, the situation is made worse by uncontrolled mobs of enemies that run straight up to you. Bring back slow crawling orderly queued zombies, all is forgiven! When knocked down your colleague helps you up asking politely "Are you ok?" whilst four mutated henchmen are trying to chop of your head with an axe! The controls don't help of course. Not being able to move while aiming seemed to work for RE4 where perhaps the enemy pathways were planned a lot more than they seem to be here in RE5.

Here is hoping that Resident Evil 6 will take us back to basics with solo zombie-filled survival horror.

The EDGE review

Lorien is delayed another week in EU

*Moria content spoilers*

Yep. If you are an EU player of Lord of the rings Online you will not be playing the latest free expansion The Leaves of Lorien tonight as it has been delayed another week.

Not surprising really with all the bugs being reported from across the pond and it suits me just fine. I am away this weekend anyway and I still have book 6 to do.

I always seem to enjoy the game more when the pressure is on to complete something before a deadline. It makes you play the game for a start, but you also get through much more content and I enjoy the game more when the content comes more rapidly than normal.

I've had a few late nights this week (yawn). I managed to complete Book 5 acquiring some nice teal leggings. That took a couple of sessions as Volume 2 Book 5 chapter 5 contains no less than three instances in a 'Defend the 21st Hall' scenario. Starting Book 6 instructed me to head towards Lorien and seek Haldir, Woot! I thought. But then I found out you need to have completed both the advanced slayer deeds for Orcs and Goblins in Moria before you can start Book 6 chapter 2. Luckily I only had about 100 Orcs to grind, could have been worse.

So I still haven't left Moria via the eastern exit yet, in fact I have not crossed the Bridge of Khazad-dum. It is the next thing I will do when I login next week, exciting eh?

Last night was my first non-book instance in Moria : The Grand Stair. Although it contains no less than 15 quests it is surprisingly short and took us ninety minutes or so. Although you will not complete all the quests in one run, you get loads of XP. So if you are looking to level quickly in Moria I suggest you head over to The Orc Watch camp (where you collect the quests) at level 55/56.

I haven't cashed the quests in yet, so next time I login I will ding to level 57 :)

Ecstacy playing LOTRO shock!

*reward spoilers*

I did not intend to turn VG into a LOTRO blog, but with the imminent arrival of the new expansion Leaves of Lorien I am firmly in LOTRO mode right now.

I had a very pleasant time last night, indeed one of the best I've had and it's been a long time coming!

I finally finished Vol 1 Bk 15 - WOOT!

As I had a practice run the night before, I managed to explain the strategy and lead a group to victory. I even killed Mordrambor mid-stage when three level 60s had died before me. I wont spoil the end. A very exciting instance, I thought we were screwed at least twice but managed to pull through with the help of a few Resurrections of course.

You get some nice goodies too - and so you should from what is effectively the end of Shadows of Angmar. You get a painting for the house, a nice cosmetic cloak, some new titles "Champion of Eriador" sounds good eh? But best of all you inherit Laerdan's nag, a nice silver mount! Well, he won't be needing it any more will he? This also means you can also flog your old horse for 1 gold piece.


Westfold Exiles are a very nice kin, I had not met them before. Polite, calm and thoughtful they were all using voice and had a good sense of humour too. They were very grateful to me and for the first time in ages I felt like I was instrumental rather than feeling like a noob like I do with more hard core players that play the game a lot more than I do.

The evening also reminded me that a significant part of MMO enjoyment comes from the players within it. If you play most of the game solo avoiding group quests you will certainly not get as much from the game as being more sociable. Now that I am playing again I need to make more of an effort with my own kin and start enjoying the game more.

Lotro Book 7 Leaves of Lorien Date!

The latest The Lord of the rings Online expansion (the first since Moria) Book 7 : Leaves of Lorien will be available tomorrow to US players.

For us Europeans, we will have to wait another week. Thursday 26th March.

Personally I do not really mind the EU delay. I still need to crack on with books 5 and 6 in Moria. I am very pleased though I will be able to leave Moria finally. If you have read my earlier posts you will know I'm not a huge fan of it. Technically it's very nice, but too much dark and dinge is always a bad thing in my view. It's probably not all Moria's fault to be fair, I have got quite bored with the constant repetitious clicking-based gameplay. But clicking in the bright and breezy countryside instead makes the world of difference.

I still haven't finished Bleedin' chapter 12 of Book 15 yet (the final quest to the original Volume 1 epic chain). I had a go last night and thought it was in the bag. My pug killed Mordrambor (first time I had done it) we seemed to have got the strategy correct for that. But then afterwards you go off for more grinding which took us by surprise at one point and with a stroke of misfortune we lost our Minstrel before we knew it. Aarrrgghhhhhhhh!

New pics for LOTRO Volume 2 Bk 7 Lothlorien

The announcement of fresh content for Lords of the Rings Online has lifted my spirits at the end of the dark winter grind inside Moria. Volume 2 Book 7 will greatly expand Lorien and provide well awaited sunshine filled exploration in what is probably the largest wood-based environment since I was a noob in The Old Forest which sits on The Shires' borders.

It was just a fling, you must believe me my Sweet!

I've actually squeezed some fun out of LOTRO recently. A lunch time run through one of Eregions instances that only took an hour and also managing to complete Book 4 with a pickup group. Another tussle with The Watcher (in the water) no less. I've no doubt I havent seen the last of him. I still find Moria tiresome though. Last night I was trudging through the initially impressive Waterworks - a huge sewer network deep under the mountain. But it does not really do it for me, slowly swimming around killing countless toads and lizards. Poor blighters, what did they ever do to Dwarves?

I don't bother with crafting either. Except just to level my proficiency when the mood takes me, I've only just acquired Artisan Weaponsmith status. In fact for my questing troubles I was awarded a handful of Teal Critical scrolls, forget the proper name. I took two seconds to greedily decide I would rather have the cash and was pleasantly surprised to get 2.5 Gold from the auction!Still, the plan is to get Books five and six done and then I can stagger out through the other side blinded by the sunshine of The Wilderness east of the Misty Mountains.

I love the Spring.


more LOTRO Lorien pics to be found here

LOTRO Lorien News!

Yes, just what the doctor ordered.

The next expansion Volume 2 Book 7 is rumoured to be released in the next few weeks. Although the date has not been confirmed, the new area focuses on the elven wood Lothlorien home of the elf lord Galadriel and it's surrounding areas.

Some discussion of the release date:

http://community.codemasters.com/forum/showthread.php?p=4961951

And the patch notes to Volume 2 Book 7:

http://lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Release_Notes_Volume_2_Book_7_Bullroarer_Official#Volume_II:_Book_7_Highlights

I was hoping to post a pic of Lorien, but they have all been removed due to NDAs :(

LOTRO Helegrod raid induces coma

You can't blame me. Because I'm still a lowly level 55 in Lord of the Rings Online I'm not big enough yet to join my kin for instance runs in the recent Moria expansion.

So when I was invited last night to return to Helegrod (one of the two main raids in LOTRO) for some Worm slicing and Giant mashing I gratefully accepted. The first hour was fun, considering I had not played with my kin-mates since Moria had been released. I even managed to complete one of my raid quests left in my log (woot!).

Have you heard of Listerine Thorog?

After that however, the usual fatigue started to set in. It was a quite relaxed session, most of the raid (which there were twenty of us) know Hele intimately and were also level 60. Perhaps that was the problem, or maybe it wasn't. Raids in LOTRO (providing they go smoothly) usually take four, maybe five hours including the final boss, sometimes a bit longer. Because they are so long, your raid has a few days in which to complete it by acquiring raid locks so they can continue where they left off.

But what usually happens (at least in my kin) is that the main brunt of the grind gets done in one evening (can be a good four hours) to finish all the mini-bosses. Then the final boss (Thorog the resurrected Drake in Hele, or Thaurlach the giant Balrog in The Rift) is dealt with on another night.

My conclusion from last night's visit to Helegrod (where I have visited at least half a dozen times) is that I don't really like raiding much and can see why a lot of gamers raid just for the high end gear. There is another benefit of course. It is nice to be part of such a large group of your fellow kin and as long as the raid is going smoothly, it can be quite a social affair.

After ninety minutes of heavy grind though, I realised I had slipped into a drunken-like stupor waving the mouse around in a vague dreary way wondering why the mouse pointer had become randomly jittery, aching from a sore hand and very weary of how the frame rate was chugging along. With twenty players fighting waves of spiders and worms, there is also far too much action going on at once, the screen becoming very messy and jerky and difficult to make out. I had also found myself playing my own game, seeing how little interaction I could actually get away with without dying or being told off, in this strange world of repetitious point-and-click that we spend so many hours of our lives in.

In my distorted version of an ideal world, raid sessions would not last longer than a couple of hours and no more than say twelve players at a time.

Falin plays on the EU server Laurelin (sometimes).

Free trial GTA IV Live party week!

Don't get me wrong, Grand Theft Auto IV is one hell of game. After the bloated but light-hearted zany comedy of GTA III:San Andreas, GTA IV returned to it's roots - the darker more serious mafia infested New York. Oh, sorry I meant Liberty City. With a new game engine to take advantage of next-gen tech, Liberty City had never looked or felt so gorgeous. The game is a lot darker and grittier, the main character Nico can be more sympathised with and the cars handling is a lot heavier - grounding their existence to the game world more thoroughly.

But once the gloss became less of a novelty, it did feel to me like the same old GTA. Number Four had inherited the series' greatness but also it's flaws, perhaps the biggest of which being returned back to the start of a long chained mission that you had repeatedly failed already four or five times. Added to that my relentless attraction to what my PC can offer (Lord of the rings Online, Trackmania, Blogging, Surfing etc etc), well my 360 started gathering dust a couple of months after GTA IV had been released, uncompleted.

I only came out for some milk!

However, to celebrate the release of The Lost and Damned (The first GTA IV new content chapter exclusive to 360) M$ are letting Live gamers play GTA IV multiplayer for free all this week (17th-22nd Feb). What great timing I thought, as I had planned to have a GTA IV session this week anyway (see previous post) and I had not yet tried GTA IV on Multiplayer. I refuse to pay M$ for the privilege of playing multiplayer on my 360, especially when I have a PC that I can play most of the same games for free.

Hesitantly I chose Deathmatch, the other many game modes did not seem to have any participants at the time (10am!). After getting quickly killed five times while adjusting to this strange new multiplayer environment, I started to recollect the controls and got drawn into Liberty City...

Two hours vanished in a blink of an eye, wow! I have not had this much fun playing, well anything for years. Do you remember how exciting Deathmatch Doom was all those years ago when MP was in it's infancy? Everything was new, exploring new strategies and contemplating all the limitless possibilities. Well GTA IV MP is there. It is just so refreshing being in an open vast living city in a multiplayer game and not having a First-Person-Perspective like most other Deathmatch games.

From stalking parks to building sites strafing your rifle as you go or firing rockets along main street Downtown or maybe grabbing a car to ram your opponent or get involved in a car chase shoot out through the city. The big gunfight in the movie Heat springs to mind. All this action is going on in the same map. Some bugger even found a helicopter from somewhere! The fact GTA IV also introduced 'Hide-behind' to the series a la Gears of War also adds to the action. I thought the play area would be cordoned off for MP for more focused play, but the expansive city works because you can see your enemies location on the on-screen radar so everybody just homes in on each other. It's a blast! Even if you do find yourself a few blocks away from the action, it's not like you have to run in GTA ;). DeathMatch seems to suit Sandbox gaming very well indeed if GTA IV is anything to go by...

My xbox live gamer tag is matty080476

The cat is away, time to play!

Don't worry I have not given up on my blog just yet, I'm in it for the long haul (as everything in life I reckon!). I'm trying to keep my blogs at least half-interesting (don't be mean) instead of the rubbish I post on Shannonlan! :)

Oh bugger I just did.

I also found out that Twitter is fully compatible with Facebook, so you can still tweet to your mates that don't use Twitter by automatically updating your facebook status. Excellent!

Expecting some GTAIV action soon now I have access to the main TV. Even Spring is in the air what with the temp rising back to it's usual 10 degrees Centigrade, so I'm in better spirits this week! :D

Falin posts regularly on the gaming board ShannonLan

Farewell CounterStrike

I fired up Counter-Strike for the first time in ages the other night, and as the saying goes "I got pwned!".

Perhaps it was just the server I picked as there were only a handful of people playing the classic de_dust2 map, but I was terrible and very out of practice. After an hour of perseverance I realised I was not enjoying myself and starting to scream at the monitor, so I logged.

Perhaps CS' time has finally come. Even the current version CS:Source (which was released a few years ago shortly after Half-Life 2) seemed rather dated to me, although Source was essentially the same game as the original but with a graphical overhaul. But you can't say goodbye to such a giant game without fanfare.

I keep dying, take that Barrel!

It was a simple idea, a team of Terrorists against the Counter-Terrorists playing in slightly different scenarios within wildly different parts of the world. But the games' success hinged on its very realistic and authentic action. Using real world weapons and SWAT themed manoeuvres, one bullet aimed at you in the right place meant game over - no shrugging off nail storms and dodging rockets here. You would have to watch the remainder of the game waiting for the outcome before you could start playing again. Even though most games only lasted a few minutes, this fact put off many players that wanted straight back in after they had died.

But there was something special about CS, something that soon made it the number one Internet action game for many years. When Valve (the creators of Half-Life) launched Steam, their innovative content network, they also took on the development of CS (originally a fan-mod). Version 1.6 could only be played on Steam evoking an outcry from many die-hard fans. But Steam proved very successful at providing consistent updates and network play.

When asked "What's your favourite game of all time?" Counter-Strike for me, has to be right up there rubbing shoulders with the big boys, the likes of X-wing, even the mighty Streetfighter II. Indeed, CS' achievement is certainly impressive from what spawned as a homebrew mod to the original Half-Life way back in 1999.

"Fire in the hole!"

More info about Counter-Strike's history

Twitter me this, twitter me that...

If you live in the UK, the chances are that Twitter has come up in conversation this week due to a sudden explosion in its profile within the media.

Indeed, its promotion has been helped in no small part by a number of celebrities championing its use wherever they go. The latest celeb Chris Moyles, Radio 1 breakfast show DJ performed live on air a kind of love-twitter-triangle feature with fellow twitterers Philip Schofield and Andy Peters.



So what is Twitter? I've had a go and the best way to describe it is a status messenger, that just takes Facebook's status update feature into a much simpler and minimalist format. I can see why it's popular with celebrities as they can very quickly promote themselves to their legions of fans with minimal effort.

I think it's a rather charming little program, especially compared to the bloated and slothenly Facebook. Another great feature is that you can send updates via your mobile with SMS texts free of charge (you just pay your network's standard charge) making the whole concept much more meaningful, providing you are doing something interesting of course!

"Following your favourite celebrities" sounds vulgar, but surprisingly very entertaining when put into practice. In fact reading Stephen Fry's mini-crisis about buying a manbag from the airport yesterday and getting derided by his followers was hilarious as was Alan Carr's advice not to brave the snow as he 'did a Todd Carty in front of Londis'. You could almost say top-drawer entertainment, well for the office.

Actually, celebrity-following is pretty much all I can do until I get some followers of my own as I have had trouble convincing friends to have a look. I would advise you to throw away your preconceptions and just try it for a few days - for the sake of in-office entertainment.

www.twitter.com/mattjohnbrady

Left4Dead pushes co-op play to the fore

Valve (the makers of Half life) launched the rather excellent Left4Dead a few months back and now I have had a few sessions on it I can confirm I am rather pleased with it.

Only available on Valve's network Steam, L4D is a fast paced FPS set in a zombie infested survivor scenario. The main gut of the game is split into four campaigns and take around an hour to complete. You have the aid of three other companions to help you make your escape from the massing hordes onto a suitable vehicle such as a helicopter or boat.

"Get Thee back Satan!"

I was not particularly impressed with the game initially as I made the mistake of choosing single player (creating your companions as AI controlled). But playing solo is not what this game is all about and to Valve's credit L4D is almost entirely based on co-operative play. At the time of writing the servers are still quite active, so if you are a bit of a Billy-No-Mates like me you can easily find a game of like-minded players to join, though you may find yourself in the middle of a campaign and so end up with less score.

But L4D is best played with your mates as I discovered last week. The in-game voice chat makes communication a doddle and you won't have time to argue as you will be too busy fending off the zombies and saving each other's necks. Every game plays out slightly different too, as the zombies have a number of different places where they can spring from, designed of course to scare the shit out of you!

All things considered, it's a perfect hour of entertainment if you can round up some mates.

LOTRO Moria provokes Winter Blues!

Yep, as impressive as The Mines of Moria is (the first expansion to the MMO Lord of the Rings Online) with it's expansive halls and new upgradeable weapons, to me it's all very dark and dinghy!

I know I must sound crazy and it's probably just that time of year that I hate - the winter. But I actually suffer SAD (Seasonal Affecting Disorder) in real life, otherwise know as 'the winter blues', which is caused by a lack of sunlight in the winter. So who's crazy idea was it to release Moria - primarily a dark underground area - at the beginning of winter!??

Now to be fair, the pretty (and sunny) green wastelands of Eregion that were released at the same time of Moria, are actually quite nice. You play through Eregion which takes a couple of levels before you enter into Moria. But once you are in Moria, there is no break from the evil darkness from levels 52-60, which I actually think was a mistake on the developers part. It would have been nice to have had another outside area mid-way, a sunshine holiday if you will, a break from the dark and dinghy grinding.

Now some hard-core players would have had Moria licked (or at least levelled to 60) within a couple of weeks, but I'm not one of those players. Playing at my own pace I got to level 54 in about five or six weeks before the darkness took hold. I took a few weeks off as I just couldn't face loading up the game for a while. I had another go a couple of days ago and persevered with it, but I can't honestly say I enjoyed myself.

There does not seem to be any news yet on the next area, but it won't come too soon as far as I am concerned.

I play as Falin on the EU server Laurelin

Trackmania Experiment

Let's face it, most free games are crap or they are limited demo versions of their proper selves, but TrackMania Nations (which is a free racing game available on Steam) finally has me hooked.

The hook for me is the fact that you can literally play against over 2 million registered players. It is a clever design of the game that lets you watch your world ranking slowly improve that makes you feel like you are actually achieving something worthwhile while playing this fun little game. You can also check your ranking against your own country and even your local region within that country.

But don't be tempted to play the game with the default cursor keys just because it seems like a simple game. I rather stupidly, did this thinking keys would be best. But then after a eureka moment I picked up my analogue joypad and instantly (and rather embarrassingly) gained a whole new dimension of control improving my game by much.

So I've been playing for a few weeks now and would like to think I have a little skill at it so I want to see how high I can get my ranking just by playing the game for an hour or so three or four times a week. Now it is fairly obvious that of the two million players registered, they are not all going to be currently active. Especially when you consider that the game is free, so most people will play it three times maybe and never play it again.

Therefore, it is easy to increase your ranking in the beginning. Just a couple of sessions on multiplayer will allow you to break into the top 700,000 fairly easily. But so far I have found my progress slow but fairly steady and with a little bump I shoved myself past the top 300,000.

My worldwide ranking currently stands around 290,000.

My TM username is Falin