My Gaming has been a little quiet this summer, I suppose that is the norm what with the nicer weather and a much more hectic social calendar to juggle.


I've got by though ;)


A few months back After Burner Climax was a nice treat. One of my favourite arcade games of yesteryear and an unforgettable soundtrack helped me relive my childhood with a few extra bells and whistles of course. A fantastic addition to my slowly growing XBLA collection.




Managing to avoid the pull of Red Dead Redemption (it can wait, I only completed GTAIV not so long ago), the rest of the summer saw me picking a out a few bargains.


Mass Effect 2 took me a couple of months to slowly plod through, having not played the first ME game the story was a little baffling to begin with but the production values really are superb as well as the story, typically for Bioware. The 30 hour game makes it a little shorter than KOTOR and a fraction of Oblivion's size, but ME2 is the greater spectacle not least due to the well polished real-time combat scenes.


I've just started Batman Arkham Asylum which also seems as equally polished as ME2 and a welcome tribute to such a mainstream licence. 


I also picked up Street Fighter IV from a bargain bin. A very well made remake of one of the most successful (and one of my most fondest) games ever. Of course the key to longevity (which was the same for SFII) is getting involved in multiplayer sessions, either with your mates or via Live. 


Other than that I have naturally made use of the occasional LOTRO free weeks. I'm basically stuck now until I can level a couple of times, as the final quest of Volume 2 Book 9 is sadly level gated. LOTRO becomes free to play next month, so looking forward to that.


I also ordered Metal Gear Solid : Peacewalker on eBay for my PSP for when I go on holiday next week. It is not very often a truly great game comes out for the PSP, so I had to grab it and looking forward to playing my first ever MGS game.


Later next month also sees F1 2010 released, a much anticipated game for me, but more about that in my next post...

E3 2010 Microsoft Kinect - Nintendo 3DS - Sony Move

So E3 2010 is now over and while the dust settles we can reflect on what is the most important thing in the games industry - decent games.

Microsoft, the seemingly professional E3 talkers, gave a great presser. Hell, they even ended it giving a free 360 slim to all the Journos that were in the room. Classy.

But was there much gaming content in there? Not really, as much of the focus was on Kinect (formerly Project Natal) and while the camera device does seem technically impressive, the jury is still out on wether Kinect can make a dent in the Wii/Casual/moving-about market or indeed make any fun games for it.

Kinect Starwars looks fun, but it could play terribly, we will see...



The rest was business as usual really, timed exclusive for Call of Duty, the usual Halo stuff, and something about free ESPN (great if you are American).

Nintendo skipped all the hyporama and presented their new 3DS, a more powerful portable machine that can also display in 3D without the need for glasses. Because of the level of power being offered, all sorts of games harking back to the N64 days including Pilotwings were being showcased. Games for gamers then.



Sony limped in with a dreadfully dull presser with over-long demonstrations of their entry into said Wii/Casual/moving-about market, Move. Which looks rediculous and does not seem to offer anything that the Wii cannot do. Worse the price tag is looking like $130 for the full kit, I just can't see that working out.

Shadow Complex - best budget game ever?

So I finally completed Shadow Complex yesterday.

Because I started the game on 'hard', I lost my patience with it 5 hours in as I just wanted to finish it so shamelessly switched to 'easy'.

The second half of the game sees you collecting additional armour pieces, and for each piece you collect - the game just gets better and better.

As you gain new abilities and strength with each armour piece, you really are a 'bad-ass' by the end, ploughing through countless enemies. The final boss is so over-the-top the game's spectacle just blows you away considering you are playing a £15 2.5D game.

My game time was just over 7 hours, but depending on how much of the game you want to explore you could spend a lot less or a lot more in it.

Although it owes a lot to Metroid, SC has written a new template in game pricing. Premium budget games that cost £15 will break sales records if they are of AAA standard.


I also finished GTA IV the other week, and was left feeling uninspired. Sure, the graphics are nice and the new cover system is welcome. But I'm not sure why a return to Liberty City was necessary. For me, Vice City and San Andreas were more fun, the former for its atmosphere the latter for its exploration and variety. The series' biggest flaw is also still ever present - having to retread the entire mission and its cut scenes if you fail, which may not necessarily be any fault of your own.

I'm about four hours into Bayonetta. The hack and slash genre is simply not for me, it is either too tough or too shallow. The combat system in Bayonetta is superb though, if that is you thing.

It is 2010 and Niko Bellic is still breathing

The last half of 2009 was certainly a great period for gaming, so great I did not find the time to blog much! ;)

All those great games that I mentioned in my previous post came and proved themselves worthy and to finish the year in style Sega came out from nowhere and delivered a killer blow to the hack and slash genre, but more about the super slick Bayonetta after its release this weekend.

So what am I playing right now then?

Funnily enough I've recently got back into GTA IV to try and finally put Niko out of his misery. I'm quite enjoying it actually. A recent highlight being the bank job mission, not the second time this game has reminded me of of the movie Heat. Roll on the double expansion which I have yet to acquire.

But you don't want to see Niko's ugly mug, so scattered throughout this post are my own photos taken while playing my Game of the Year 2009 Forza Motorsport 3 using its in-game photo mode.

What a wonderful game that was. The grindiness of the levelling from Forza 2 was not eliminated completely, but the smooth presentation and delicous visuals wrap up that almost perfect handling component very tidily. What a shame then that it is still illegal to shoot idiots that have no concept of racing ettiquette to speak of and think it is perfectly acceptable to slam in the back of you instead of learning where the proper breaking points are.

Operation Flashpoint : Dragon Rising with its ocean deep immersion did not disappoint either, although its ruthlessness from the original was certainly a shock after these modern day 'hold-by-the-hand' and 'you-will-finish-this-game-even-if-you-are-an-imbecile' times. Saying that, the last mission is a right bastard.

LOTRO is still on hold, despite the release of a new expansion Siege of Mirkwood. The weariness still hasn't dissolved yet. Although we all know it's not a proper expansion and that it came out of the blue in an attempt to ease Turbines coffers.

Jumpgate Evo is still vapourware, only kidding. I'm sure it exists really a bit like the long running joke that is Duke Nukem Will Never Die.