The Gaming Week thread

[stoobie]

This week I gave up on Star Ocean - I read somewhere that it takes around 80 hours to finish the game and that is a lot of time spent playing an average game!

I'm still playing FF9 on the PSP. It is a far superior game to Star Ocean - characters you care about, interesting story and despite being turn based the battle system is far better. I think it is more suited to PSP also, as it looked really messy on the big screen, but looks really good on the smaller screen.

I played a bit more Street Fighter 4 as well this week. Thought I might try and pick up a few more achievements on it. There isnt much action online anymore - and those matches I did find had really bad lag. I am destined never to get my five online wins in a row achievement. I always lose on the fifth match!

Downloaded Garou - Mark of the Wolves. Im pleasantly surprised I think, a lot better than I expected. The fighting style takes a bit of getting used to but it is a good fighter. The graphics altho really blocky are amazingly well animated. Its really tough too. I havent even manage to finish it on the default difficulty yet

And then theres Wii Music. Not a game at all, but lots of fun. Although you do look like a twat when playing it. Especially the trumpet method of playing. I am showing my lack of musical skills by failing to do the Pitch challenges. I think I am up to number 6 and I cant get any further Still I have my NES horn!

[Sly Reflex]

A day late again, due to my Dad throwing a wobbler and being taken into hospital. He is back at home now, and I think things are going to be fine for now. I hope. Anyway, onto the games.

Red Faction: Guerilla was my most online played game. After initially really hating it, I am starting to warm to it. I am really shit at it though, I cannot see myself getting really good at this like I did with BF:BC. As long as there are people playing it, I will play too, it should tide me over until DICE get BF:BC2 into my hands.

Noby Noby Boy got a little bit of play, as did Super Stardust HD (which seems really good, wish I had played it properly sooner), but besides that the PS3 has seen little love game wise, as both my parents and girlfriend have been using it for anything but.

Fallout 3 I am starting to enjoy now, as I'm not getting my arse kicked every footstep I take, and I have a huge cashé of weapons and more importantly ammunition. VATS now works more often than not, so it's not often that a shot goes amiss. I'm not sure how many hours I had to put in to get to this point, but it's way too many. It has to be one of the most inaccessible games I have ever played to a new comer. It can be cruelly unfair sometimes as well, I fast travelled to a destination that landed me right in the middle of six or seven super mutants, then had to fight them as it wouldn't let me fast travel out.

FFVII I have taken to playing for more than my dinner breaks. It's very enjoyable too, the only gripe I have with it is that the field bits control like shit.

[HandsomeDead]

I've been playing Skate 2 most of this week. I'm enjoying it on the most part, it's certainly the most demanding game I've played in quite a while but I've been wanting a game like that lately, simple street skating type stuff I've pretty much got, well nearly. Some challenges require you to do precise combos an pulling off the exact required move is fiddly. Vert ramps I need to work on to, I can barely do anything on them.

While not pulling off sick tricks I've been dabbling with Vin Diesel in Chronicles of Riddick: Assualt on Dark Athena which to be honest has shattered the old rose-tinted glasses, I really enjoyed it on the Xbox but I'm having a real hard time playing it, I heard people say it still plays like a five year old game but I've allways thought that most games haven't moved on a great deal but this shows they have. It's just frustrating, maybe I just suck but I don't remember having much trouble the first time but now I'm baffled by every challenge. I'll stick with it, there was bound to be some reason why I liked it originally.

Surprise of the week has been Super Stardust HD which I picked for for the sum of £1.59 off PSN and I'm really happy with it, just another twin-stick shooter but it plays really well, just as good as Geo Wars. I don't really know what else to say, its as fun as a good example of the genre should be.

[illdog]

A large majority of my week has been spent with Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Its ok in a really average way, not as collect'em up as the first game (but that was made by Travellers Tales, collecting is what they do) but i really like the Unlockables section where you have to perform a certain amount of kills with certain weapons and certain Transformers to unlock goodies, including 6 G1 Transformers epsiodes! Lovin that. Otherwise its very grey and bland, very samey yet still i enjoyed it. I guess my Transformers jones is all encompassing.

Started (and i mean barely done anything kind of started) GTA: China Town Wars on the DS but was instantly impressed with the presentation and graphics, looking forward to getting into that.

Yosumin is the best puzzle game everyone doesnt own, the Adventure mode DLC makes the game and the music is bloody great!

Wii Music has been my surprise morsel, ive only had one session due to time constraints but i really enjoyed and find myself wanting to boot it up again,

Also, really harting TMNT Arcade on XBLA again, cant wait for the second one to come out.

[Cyberpunk]

My week has been spent playing Wanted Weapons of fate. X-Box360 version by the way!! Made as a sequel to the movie, it's not too bad in a slightly repetative sort of way. It has a great chained cover system which does save the game from being just a little bit too boring, and you can unlock abilities, amongst others the ability to bend bullet trajectories. The cover system works well once you've mastered it, but it can make the game a little too easy, even on the hardest setting. Loads of blood and swearing, so it's not a game for the young 'uns.

I've just got Prototype, Games for Windows version. I haven't played much of it yet, as I'm currently upgrading my Pc it time for Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3, but so far it's a great game. Fantastic graphics, and a good storyline.

I've also been playing Trackmania United Forever online. I've been playing this since January, and I have a lot of fun playing it. It's a arcade type racing game with seven modes. The most popular mode is Stadium, where you drive various speed, stunt, or dirt courses in a car that looks a little like an old formula 1 car with boosted suspension. It's mainly time attack with you repeating the course as many times as you like in 8 to 10 minutes, with the fastest time wining. It's fully mod-able, and abounds with user made content such as courses, cars, track mods, etc, and has a built in track editor and car painter. Also you can get the cut down version, Trackmania Nations Forever, for free, and it's free to play online. If you're interested in giving it a try, go to www.trackmania.com.

[Sambob]

Been playing Final Fantasy 7 on PSP, intercut with some Final Fantasy 7 Crisis Core on the PSP. Also re-bought COD5 so been playing that on multiplayer a bit.

Ive been really nicely surprised by how well of a companion Crisis Core is to Final Fantasy 7. The two games play totally differently, crisic core is more of a slightly intelligent hack and slash but because its a prequel story its really good to play alongside. I really like Zack Fair as a character and although the story is typically cliche riddled Ive enjoyed playing through it and with the original Final Fantasy 7 these games have helped to fill a void, and have made sure that the tedium that an RPG like FF7 can create hasnt ever become a barier as I can swap out for Crisis Core at any point.

This past week, and also a bit of the last (as ive not updated this thread for a while) have actually made me really appreciate the PSP both in terms of power and the kind of games that it can bring you, with the ability to play original PSX games it feels a lot closer to the complete package than I felt it did when I traded my old one in about 2 years ago, looks like even I make mistakes.

[Craymen Edge]

I've had the week off, so have been able play a lot this week.

My xbox 360 died in the middle of the week, so that somewhat curtailed my attempts to get further into Red Faction and Fuel. It's rare that I play open world games, let alone two of them concurrently. But these are sufficiently different that they fulfill what I'm after out of my gaming time right now. I started another playthrough of Fable 2 to play the DLC alongside the main storyline, and get one of the other endings, but didn't get very far before xbox death. It's one of my favourite games of this gen, despite it's many technical problems. It's just such an enjoyable world to play around in.

Early this week I completed a second playthrough of Ben There, Dan That! and then the newly released sequel, Time Gentlemen, Please! Both are wonderful point and click adventures, written by a couple of guys with genuine love of the genre and the Lucasarts classics. They're funny and clever, and a lot of entertainment for very little money. (BTDT is free/donationware, and TGP costs just £3, but in a really nice move the devs sent everyone who donated for the first game a free copy of the sequel)

I spent a lovely couple of hours completing Wallace and Gromit's Grand Adventures episode 3 : Muzzled. So far these games have been very good, and this was no exception. They've done an incredible job recreating the style of the W&G animated films.

With the 360 on it's way to Germany, I dived back into Okami on the PS2. I put some serious time into it on Thursday evening and Friday, and can't be too far from the end now, there's only one Celestial Brush technique left to get. It's such a quality game, it would certainly be high on my list of best games. The only complaint I could make is that it's starting to feel a little long. I've gone past two parts where it could have logically and satisfactorily ended, only for things to carry on. Kind of like one of those soap opera Omnibus editions they put on at the weekends.

With a lesser game, I might have stopped playing, but I'm still loving this one, so I soldier on.

Oh, I thought of another complaint. Those bloody stone door monsters that you headbutt and they reveal weak spots you then have to draw on to destroy it. When it has 5 or 6 spots you have a second or less to remember, and then have to draw them in sequence with the Dualshock 2's abysmal analog stick (the deadzone is fucking ridiculous), it can be frustrating. Luckily you only see them a couple of times in the game.

[Bob]

This week I have been playing Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes which was a bit of a mixed bag. The stealth feels really basic after playing MGS3 and 4, the cut scenes feel a bit stupid after the 'Snake is just a man' message of the fourth and it doesn't exactly have the greatest controls ever. However, all the stuff about how much nuclear bombs suck is still good and, you know, it's Solid Snake running round being 'ard so if you like MGS you can't really complain.

I have been trying really hard to play the latest Fallout 3 expansion, whatever it's called. I have forgotten. It's not going very well at any rate. Really not digging it, stupidly tough enemies that are wearing nothing but a pair of dungarees yet they can soak up more plasma than a squad of Enclave soldiers, not cool. Shame since I really like the look of it, the missions just aren't grabbing me and the decision to give fleshy enemies skin made out of steel is stupid. Maybe I have just had enough of Fallout 3, my save file is around the 70 hour mark and when I finished Broken Steel I thought to myself, well I'm glad that is done, what an experience. I feel like I was forced back into it, coming out of my Fallout 3 retirement for one last shot at the big time. It didn't work though.

My bro picked up The Evil Dead: Fistful of Boomsticks from CEX for £2.50 a while ago, I also gave that a quick go and much to my surprise, it was pretty decent. The levels are huge and have a open world feel to them and Bruce Campbell makes up for the fact that the gameplay is completely generic. Probably the sort of game I would finish if it didn't have a crappy save system. You get tokens to save the game which I hate with all my heart and soul, there are no checkpoints in the levels which are huge (first took me about a hour or so) so if you get jumped on by dirty deadites and die that's it, back tot he last time you remembered to save it. I lost about half an hour before and thought shouted fuck you at the telly before turning it off and probably never going back to it.

Final Fantasy VII has also been played on and off. Coming up to a big chunk of story now where I get to listen to Cloud complain for about an hour straight. Good times.

Resident Evil 5 arrived today, I have been enjoying it very much. I know a lot of people complained about being rooted to the spot when you fire when it was released but it bothered me so much I hadn't even noticed until I thought to myself, people complained about being rooted to the spot when they fire on this but I hadn't even noticed. When I came off it I had reached a on rails set piece and the game itself is great fun but the story seems really weak compared to the others. I like Sheva but Chris is a brainless meathead who looks constantly miffed so I am finding it hard to care about him, he has always been my least favourite of the main cast of characters and he's not doing anything to change my mind this time round. He has lovely big arms though. I would like him to wrestle me down to the ground with them and bite my bottom.

So I can get a picture and blackmail him for lots of lovely money.

[DANGERMAN]

With the 360 on it's way to Germany, I dived back into Okami on the PS2. I put some serious time into it on Thursday evening and Friday, and can't be too far from the end now, there's only one Celestial Brush technique left to get. It's such a quality game, it would certainly be high on my list of best games. The only complaint I could make is that it's starting to feel a little long. I've gone past two parts where it could have logically and satisfactorily ended, only for things to carry on. Kind of like one of those soap opera Omnibus editions they put on at the weekends.

Ah, memories, the amount of times I thought that. It is as though they knew that they werent going to make a second one, so threw everything they had at it. But yeah, the only thing that would have improved that game (bar a pacier start) was it being 10 hours shorter)

Badger, which was that Evil Dead game, the one with the little Deadite you could kick around to solve puzzles or the one where you start off in that town?

[Hendo]

This week I have been mostly playing Wheelman and laughing my ass off at it.

Got some side missions to clean up and try and get better ranks on but it's pretty much done with. Great stuff.

Not been much else on the 360 except for the usual stint on Call of Duty 4. Very nearly at another prestige, I'm not sure how many I've done, maybe this is the 5th? Good times anyway, and I pine for the next one.

Everything else has been on the phone - DrawRace is brilliant stuff, a racing game where you plan your route before you start and then watch to see how well you did. Loads of levels, uploading times, downloading people's ghosts to race against, local pass-the-phone multi, it's really good.

Flight Control is my go-to game of choice, still trying to improve my scores for each level and hopefully I'll get to try the multi out this weekend.

Also recently downloaded one called Paper Toss which is free and is the same idea that you get in golf games where you account for distance and wind speed/direction, except on this you are flicking scrunched up paper into a bin. Addictive stuff, and it's free.

[Bob]

Badger, which was that Evil Dead game, the one with the little Deadite you could kick around to solve puzzles or the one where you start off in that town?

The one that starts in the town. No midget deadite kicking for me

[Jimboxy]

Seen as my xbox is at Dr Microsoft gettings its annual change of rings, i've been playing on other things for the last week or so.

On the final level of Ghostbuster on the PS3. On the whole it was a very enjoyable experience, towards the end it begins to sag a little, but there is a nice little twist with the villain which made me smile. Should probably get this finished tonight.

Because of the Wii Sports challenge, i started playing on the wii properly for the first time this week. Spent a lot of time with Sports, firstly because of the tennis challenge, then i spent ages just messing around with the other things on there. Love the golf, i think thats the one where the immersion feels greatest. also liked bowling, although thought it was a little easy, tennis is fun, baseball is a fucking bastard and haven't tried boxing. Also tried a few other wii games. Did some more stars on Mario Galaxy, played a few races on Mario Kart. I've always been pretty dismissive about the wii, and i'm now thinking i've been pretty unfair to it. When the controls are properly implemented, it is excellent and adds an extra level of depth that graphics alone could never achieve. I will defiantly be spending more time with it over the coming months.

At the weekend i "played" you're in the movies on the 360 with some friends. It is shit, no doubt it. But get a few drunk friends (and some decent light) and it is pretty good fun, started ignoring what it was telling us to do and doing our own gestures, which adds much more fun and rudeness. Got a good couple of hours out of it, so not bad for £14 with camera.

[Sly Reflex]

Fallout 3 eh? Turns out you just need to put lots of hours in for it to become fun. I think it became fun at around the 20 hours mark for me, which coincidently was around the time that I stopped been bum raped by supermutants only for them to finish my off by making me lick my arse entrails of their big glowing cocks. The story has taken a turn for the better now, some of the missions were really good. There was one bit that genuinely creeped me out,

Betty speaking in the old guys voice was a bit of an uneasy moment for sure

. You might have guessed that I have got to a point where I can pretty much handle everything now, I have good weapons, good armour and enough bullets to kill an entire continent. I am borrowing the DLC disc of someone I know too, so I can see this game lasting quite a while longer yet. It's just a shame the game fists the player to begin with, I know it's put more than a few players off, including Hendo. Maybe the news that I have found light at the end of the tunnel will tempt these people into giving it another go?

I have also been playing Super Stardust on the PS3. It's like Geo War 2 all over again, chasing your best scores and trying to know people on your friends list down the leaderboard. It's also a game that makes you want to swear lots, I nearly had a heart attack when I lost my multiplier. What made it worse is I was sat in a room full of people who rarely see gaming anger in full swing, I think I scared my next door neighbour a little.

I had a quick blast of Gear of War 2 over the double EXP weekend, but I found I just couldnt get into it. I guess you have to be in the mood for this really, but after 20 waves of horde, I'd had enough.

Resident Evil 5 is probably this weeks most played game, whom I have being playing with someone from gâ„¢. It was their first time through, so I just acted as Sheva should have done in the single player game, instead of pissing ammo away and generally getting in the way or hurt. It's still a pretty good game, it looks very nice, the story is over the top and the characters are likeable. Even the main bad guy who has a really odd habit of talking to himself. I think we are aiming to claim all the achievements off this, it shouldn't be hard now I have all infinite ammo including the RPG, I reckon even the bosses don't stand much chance against that. I do worry about the QTE, we failed one about 8 times, even on normal.

[HandsomeDead]

I played a little of GoW2 on the double EXP weekend too. I've given up on it as a competative shooter now, it's still too random when it comes to close encounter fights, there are atleast 5 better examples of online shooters and this isn't worth the time.

Though a bit of Horde is pretty good.

[Sly Reflex]

I played a little of GoW2 on the double EXP weekend too. I've given up on it as a competative shooter now, it's still too random when it comes to close encounter fights, there are atleast 5 better examples of online shooters and this isn't worth the time.

Though a bit of Horde is pretty good.

Yeah, I just couldn't be arsed with it at all, it was like I was playing it for playings sake.

[DANGERMAN]

Mostly been playing Dragon Quest 8 this week, I was hoping to have it nearly done by now but because i took some time off from it I'm probably only just half way. I'm still enjoying it, but there are points where I'm playing just to get something done than because I want to do it. My characters are starting to get up there, I no longer have to hold back on spells, I cant spam them as such but I can usually use one per fight (more with bosses) and make it where ever I'm going. I want to finish it, but at the same time the thought of putting 8 hour days in all week is a bit much.

Started replaying through the ever awesome Panzer Dragoon Saga today. My Dragon has just learnt how to evolve, which imo is when the game really starts. Basically the tactics change from 'stay out of the red area' to factoring what type you've got your dragon as. This can alter the strength of your attacks, cost of magic, your defence, but also recover health and magic points. I've still got all the awesomeness to come, but I've also got the shitty labyrinth section too, but I should still be familiar enough to make it through there without too many problems.

Other than those two i've started Siren and need to get on with it because it's a rental. I'm not really a big fan of the genre though which kills my motivation, but so far it's not been too bad, hope the difficulty doesnt spike too much later on

[spatular]

not been playing much this week, lots of halo as normal, had some great games this week, one in particular we captured a flag with literally seconds left of sudden death, then 2 of our team mates quit but we still managed to defend for a 1-0 win

little bit of rock band - really liking some of the recent iron maiden dlc. and initial D which i'm still enjoying despite not knowing if i'm doing it quite right.

only new game i've played is Mamoru-kun ha norowareteshimatta! - an arcade 2d shooter port to the 360 - reasonably fun so far, it seems to vary wildly from boring to rediculous bullet hell very quickly which seems wierd but you control the scrolling yourself and it has a time limit so i guess your supposed to run through the more barren parts pretty quick. it also has a ring type powerup thing (instead of a bomb) that you throw infront of you, it seems to weaken enemies inside it, or if you go inside it yourself you power up to kill stuff a lot quicker - but i've not really played it that much yet so i'm not sure exactly what's going on.

[retroed]

I haven't played a lot this week, really.

I decided to start Another Code: Two Memories (aka Trace Memory in the US) on DS again. I think reading about the new Wii version had something to do with it. It's by CING, and was released before Hotel Dusk: Room 215. Going by Metacritic, gamesTM reviewed it in August 2005. You can see resemblances between the two games, though, one of them being a recap at the end of each chapter, to remind you of the key things that have been going on. I started it ages ago, and got to chapter three according to the save on the cartridge, but stopped for some reason. I began from scratch again though, as I had forgotten what was happening in the story. I am now at the beginning of chapter four, and am really enjoying it. The story is quite deep, and the puzzles are very imaginative and make good use of the DS's capabilities. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens in this chapter, as its title makes it sound like something Ashley (the lead character you play as) has been waiting a long time for is going to happen. I'm loving it a lot, and I'm very glad I decided to start this one again. I think this is an overlooked DS title that's well worth a play.

I've played a bit of Worms 2: Armageddon on XBOX Live Arcade, and it's bloody brilliant. I've only played the single player so far, but it's really good. It has its own campaign mode, with 35 missions. They range from taking out all the enemy worms, to puzzle solving trying to get to the exit keeping to certain rules, to getting to an exit of a maze map using only a jet pack. It's great fun and well worth the 800 MS Points.

The Wii got some more use, mostly for Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10. I'm pretty amazed at just how well the MotionPlus is working. It's most noticeable in the disc golf, but in the main golf mode it's still very apparent. You can add draw or fade by how you hold the Wiimote, twisting your hands appropriately, and you have to be really careful how you strike the ball and to follow through as best you can as it all affects where your ball will land. I've only briefly played the career mode, but it's very good stuff. Disc golf is superb fun, and there's a whole array of multiplayer modes too. It looks poo, but gameplay wise this is probably the best and most complete golf package you'll find.

[HandsomeDead]

The game I've played the most this week is Motorstorm: Pacific Rift. Two reasons really, one being the new DLC which is pretty good, I've had a little go on the new tracks and they are just as well put together and able of varied play as the ones on the disc, I just wish they were put into the main career because the new mode is just the speed runs with a leaderboard which is okay but you don't see the tracks in there best light in those. Thanks to the DLC I've come to quite enjoy the speed challenges too, I hated them before. The other reason I've been playing it is thanks to my power wire popping out of the PS3, probably while saving I lost my data but I have enjoyed going through it again, more so than the first time because I'm picking up gold medals all the time now.

Skate 2 is still getting played but the challenges are steadily getting harder but I'm not spending much time on them, I'm mostly using it to mess around, the last session I had I must of spent ages trying to do a loop-de-loop but I did it eventually and I uploaded the video which I'm going to check out soon, there was no reason for it, I saw the structure and felt I needed to do it. I think I've found a sandbox game I genuinly enjoy messing around in.

Thats it really, I would like to say I've been playing Battlefield 1943 but I still haven't been able to play it which is bullshit, the game should read that I have put many hours into Battlefield: Modern Combat and Bad Company and prioritise me or something.

[Cyberpunk]

So far this week, I've been playing 5 games. The first one is Prototype. It's a fun game to play. The story is set in Manhatten (very original lol), and your character has a host of superpowers, and abilities at his disposal. It's quite an effortless game to play, especially if you choose to use the Xbox360 controller. I'm a pc gamer don't forget. You could even, if you so choose, run from one end of the very large play area, to the other using nothing but your sprint button, and watch you character effortlessly run up buildings, jump over cars, smash through barracades, etc. The storyline is quite good, and the couple of boss fights I've had so far have been stunning. You start off with a full set of ablitlies, and later in the game, you unlock combo's and other forms. My one qualm is that I almost put it down at the start, because it was a little too easy. I thought that it would be another mindless brawler. I'm glad I stuck with it.

My second game is Vin Diesel's Wheelman. I picked this one up used, and looked forward to it. I've played Vin Diesel's other games (Dark Athena and Butcher Bay) and really enjoyed them. This one, however, has left me cold. Now you have to bear in mind that this is the pc version, and in no way reflects on the console versions, which I haven't played. The opening sequence shows you a car chase that makes Bond look tame. You think "Oooh Pretty". And thats it! The game has a poor story, lackluster and floppy controls, and the 'Car-Fu' is a little too over the top to be believable. Also, this version has very bad video clipping and buffering. At one point, during a cop chase, I drove off the end of the world, after going through a concrete wall. Visually, aside from when it clips, it's not too bad. The audio is great, spanish actors, nice music, a working radio. Hang on! That sounds familiar! The missions get repetative very quickly. They all involve go to point A, steal/kill, get to point B, lose the cops/bad guys in the most outlandish way possible.

The other 2 games I've had on the go this week are Another Code - Two Memories on recommendation from RetroEd, Trackmania United Forever, and Trackmania Ds. I'm enjoying Another Code. It's a good game with some great puzzles. On Trackmania Ds, I've spent quite a while unlocking the Hard mode in solo play. And of course there's my online escapades with Trackmania United Forever. I have a clan match tomorrow, so I've been practising. I changed the car that i'm driving, and thouht you'd like to see it. Pay special attention to the side air scoop.