The Gaming Week thread

[illdog]

This week ive mostly been playing with Jims Mum. She's hard to get into but really rewarding after the initial effort. Upon completion ive decided that i will never go back.

[Jimboxy]

[HandsomeDead]

Probably too late for the podcast, oh well. This can be for next weeks.

First off I've mostly been playing - or played - Dreamfall: The Longest Journey. Its not much when it comes down to the actual game itself but when it is a genuine page turner when it comes to the story its hard to be mad at it, infact I really enjoyed it. The ending was more than a bit mad. I've been playing DJ Hero which is really good but the difficulty needs some work, the jump between medium and hard is big, I think its bigger than it is in the Guitar Hero/Rock Band games, apart from that its wicked. The setlist is fantastic, it even takes songs that you hate and mixes them into something surprisingly enjoyable, like that Gwen Stefani one.. the one with the bananas.

Other than those I've just dabbled in other things. I bought Alien Breed Evolution and I've only played it a little, its pretty atmospheric for a top down shooter but so far the actual fighting has been quite weak. Also played some Motorstorm: Pacific Rift with fellow forum users and finally I'm still going through Brutal Legend on Brutal difficulty, I'm at the fight in the dry ice mine but I haven't tried it yet, I struggled with it last time so fingers crossed for when I get round to doing it.

[HandsomeDead]

Mass Effect 2, loads of that but I don't think its as a massive improvement over the first as some would lead you to believe, but the first was a slice of awesome so I'm not complaining.

I've also been trying to play a old style beat'em'up with Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom, I think its great, alot of fun and while I rarely win while playing online it just seems less frustrating than Street Fighter IV, maybe the more light hearted madness of it makes the defeats easier to swallow, for now atleast.

[hinn888]

Few of my friends are getting into pokemon on DS, so once again im back on Pokemon Pearl Been catching pokemon they want to train up.

Trying to get the rest of the achievements on You're in the Movies Alot harder than i thought, the amount you have to shake around is ridiculous.

Tried a bit of Pure, only done 5 events, bout to get the no dismounting achievement and got taken out by a computer. TWAT.

Been playing LEGO Indiana Jones the most. Im starting to get into these lego games.

[Hendo]

Been a busy old week for me.

Finished Mass Effect 2 and started again on the hardest difficulty, which is just brutal.

On the whole I think it's a great game, certainly should be on people's top ten lists of the year. Not so sure it's quite as fantastic as a lot of people are jizzing over it - I've heard of people saying it could be the greatest game ever made. It is a really great game, don't get me wrong, but it's not quite that good. There's certainly some low points, like scanning for planets, but mostly is is excellent.

Played the Sonic Kart demo and it's not bad but a lot harder than I was expecting.

Played bits more of Banjo Kazooie : Nuts & Bolts and it's veering on the side of frustrating rather than being fun, but I'll keep plugging away.

Still playing Modern Warfare 2 and enjoying it, sorry Sly.

Always fun going back to N+ but some of the co-op specific levels are breaking me and my co-op partner's resolves. Did some race and survival games though, some genuine belly laugh moments there.

Finally got the last achievement in Sonic 2, to finish it under an hour. Also went back to Super Street Fighter II HD Turbo Thingy and finally beat Arcade mode. I now have 2 whole achievements on that game!

I've started Bioshock 2 and not much to say on it so far, but mostly it's all good. A bit too hard on the Hard difficulty but I was bullied into choosing that one because of the descriptions where Normal was described as "you play the odd shooter" so there was a half-serious half-joking assessment that I was less of a man if I went for anything less. I'll probably start again on Normal to be honest. So yeah, I'm a big girl.

The PS3 has seen a lot of action too, started Flower again and very much enjoying that.

Also I'm going back through Metal Gear Solid 4 and still don't understand what's going on but it's a bloody good ride.

I tried to give Oblivion another go and this time I got further than I originally did, got out of the sewers but the first bit outside didn't make me go "Wow!" like it does for everyone else and I'm resigned to the fact that me and Bethesda will never get on. I just find the whole thing the same as Fallout 3 - very slow, janky and just a chore to play. Just not for me, really.

Finally, got the Heavy Rain demo and I'm pretty conflicted with it. In places it looks amazing, and in others it looks fairly ordinary and even bad in places. The sound is fantastic for the most part but a lot of the voice acting is just dire. The controls are a bit janky when walking, same as Fahrenheit, so I suppose you'll get used to it.

I'm glad I've played it though because it's set my expectations to a more realistic level, same as Fahrenheit I think it will ultimately be a brilliant experience but it's not exactly gonna cure cancer like some people are expecting.

Oh, also forgot that I've been going back to Motorstorm : Pacific Rift, mostly on single player going through the challenge races and stuff, but occasionally playing the odd race online with randoms and getting my arse handed to me.

The game is still stunning to look at and watch it all running, the soundtrack is brilliant and the course design is mind-bogglingly good.

[Bob]

Finally, got the Heavy Rain demo and I'm pretty conflicted with it. In places it looks amazing, and in others it looks fairly ordinary and even bad in places. The sound is fantastic for the most part but a lot of the voice acting is just dire. The controls are a bit janky when walking, same as Fahrenheit, so I suppose you'll get used to it.

I'm glad I've played it though because it's set my expectations to a more realistic level, same as Fahrenheit I think it will ultimately be a brilliant experience but it's not exactly gonna cure cancer like some people are expecting.

I rocked the Heavy Rain demo's socks off as well. I really did not dig it, pretty much for the reasons you have said but I'm being a bit harsher on it. Seems the game does two thing and neither of them are very good, disgruntlement! Still interested in it mind, but when it comes down to £15 and probably pre-owned because the guy making it annoys me.

Also this week I have played Bioshock 2 which is an odd one. I enjoyed it but it was the sort of game that didn't call be back when I came off it and as a result I only finished it yesterday, six days to complete a shooter is a lot for me. In comparison, the first Bioshock took me 16 hours to complete it and I finished it the day after I bought it. This was certainly enjoyable, the story was good and the gunplay seems better but it just doesn't have the same oomph as the first game. I was constantly on edge in the first game but Rapture this time just didn't feel dangerous.

I ordered the God of War collection from Canadia which arrived quicker than I normally get stuff from Play Finished GoW yesterday, still great and it benefits from the graphical sprucing as you might expect. Real shame that the cutscenes haven't had the same sprucing because they really do look like arse compared to the main game. Not a lot else to say other than it becomes one of the most stressful gaming experiences ever once you get to the cliffs of madness.

Then onto God of War 2 which benefits even more from the sprucing because now all the nasty screen tearing is a thing of the past, looks absolutely lovely in HD and it's my favourite game of the three so much fun is being had. I love how violent the GoW games are as well, just slammed Theseus' head in a door way until he was no more, good times.

I think that's it. Although no doubt when I click on add reply I will think of something.

[Craymen Edge]

Fallout 3 GOTY (PC)

Finished the main questline last night. I didn't really mean to end it, but it really accellerates towards the conclusion so I decided to just go with it. I've still got a ton of places to go to, and 2 DLC packs to do.

Mass Effect 2 (360)

Finished it at the beginning of the week. It was awesome, and I'll be back to play through it again when there's a bit more content out.

Mass Effect (360)

Finishing the sequel inspired me to go back and get on with my Insanity playthrough on the original, to remember some of the stuff that's referred to in ME2, and to play through the Pinnacle Station DLC. The DLC's not all that interesting, just a bunch of combat simulation missions. Glad I got it cheap.

I also decided to try for the Asari ally achievement, which seems to require not picking up side missions before you get her on your side. It's surprising how fast you can get Spectre'd up and on the Normandy if you know what you're doing.

Insanity isn't all that difficult as a level 59 Soldier, but I never had a problem with combat in the game on any difficulty (it took me 2 and a half playthroughs to use 150 medi-gels for the achievment), although you can get wiped out in seconds if you're not careful.

[Hendo]

Since I last posted, I've pretty much only been playing Bioshock 2.

It's an odd one as it's clearly made purely due to the success of the original, as the fact that the original developers didn't seem to want to touch a sequel makes clear. And to the fact that the story in the original is completely self-contained and doesn't really leave much room to go back, a prequel maybe but a sequel doesn't seem right. Especially when you remember that one of the tapes on the original informs you that the leaking is so bad that the whole of Rapture will literally crumble in no time at all. So with that mind, we go back, 10 years later.

The good news is that the plot is good (though nowhere near as brilliant as the first) and going back to Rapture still feels good because it was 2 and a half years since I was last there and all the locations are new. They've made some changes with the feel of the shooting and now you can dual-wield plasmids and guns, rather than switch between. The drill is the best new weapon and is really the only thing that reminds you that you're playing as a Big Daddy because otherwise it just feels like the guy from the first.

The bad news is that it's more Bioshock so it really depends on how you got on with the first.

The multiplayer is the most surprising thing about it though.

There's some kind of set-up where you have your own flat in Rapture and you're employed as a tester for one of the Plasmid companies and as you rank up, they dish out more stuff for you to test in the Rapture civil war. Of course, like all great weapons companies, they're arming both sides.

I've put a good few hours into it and so far the only real downside is when the host quits you all get booted out.

It's good though, the maps are all based on the first game's locations (it's set New Year 1959, just before Jack arrives in Rapture) and it's all very quick and frantic.

I can see myself playing this for a good while.

[HandsomeDead]

Since I last posted Mass Effect 2 has been finished, its awesome. A likely candidate for GoTY unless something else surprises me. Also been playing (or trying to play) Fatal Frame 4: mask of the Lunar Eclipse, I'm happily playing it, thinking its one of the best Wii games out there then it brakes down on you, oh well. I also finished Fahrenheit and its frustrating as hell, I nearly put it down with the intension of never playing it again but a knuckled down because I did want to see that story to the end, glad I did to be honest.

Recently I've played a little of The Misadventures of P B Winterbottom, I just played it a little but I really liked what I played, its like Braid but not as focused, trading in structured puzzles with ones that can be solved in numerous ways.

Recently announced news about Fallout: New Vegas got me into Fallout 3 again, I'm trying to finish Broken Steel but I got raped by some Ghouls, I dunno what type they were but they were fucking tough, good job I have some stealthboys, I'll just sneak past them while they fight the robots. I've also been playing quite a bit of DJ Hero, I'm trying to 5 star every song on hard, it was going really well but then I got to some fucking Scratch Perverts song, the Freebird or Green Grass and High Tides of the DJ world.

[Sly Reflex]

Big update since I last posted here.

Uncharted has been conquered. First time I have played it properly on my own like you are meant to. It was pretty good. Too much fighting though. I enjoyed the small scale fights, but the bigger ones were utterly choresome, especially when those laser guided guys showed up with their cheap 1 hit kills. Still, it was pretty enjoyable and I enjoyed the story. The characters were well realised and voiced too, which is always a bonus.

Pinball Dreams and Fantasies is being played in the PSN minis range. Both games have 4 tables each, of which collectively I have beaten 5. Ignition is the only table I have to beat on Dreams, whereas I have to beat Stone 'n' Bones and The Billion Dollar Fuck Over on Fantasies. I call it this because every time you follow the rules (which has you lighting up prizes, then spinning the wheel to secure them), it spits the ball either between the flippers or makes it so that you lose the ball by trying to save it. No big deal really, apart from it wipes EVERYTHING and you have to light up all the features again. It's the equivalent of those pinball machines that just eat money through being very cheap with their layout. Still, I'll beat the fuckers eventually, it's just a matter of perseverance.

I'm playing Borderlands through with blagmasterg. It's his 1st playthrough and I am blinding him with my 1337 skillz. And by that, I mean I'm picking him up every time he runs in and gets raped by a badass.

Bad Company 2 demo. I'm going to skirt over this simply because you are probably sick of hearing me talk about it. Ben has his Yakuza, Spatula has his Halo, Ed has his CoD and Illdog has his rape obsession. This is just my thing man, don't be a hater.

Forza 3 currently being whipped about in Cyberpunks C class time trail. As long as I finish above Iced Gems that's all I care about.

Sacred 2 was the bad game I played, that turned out to be actually pretty good once you got into it. Sure it had flaws and stuff, but it was fun to play. You can definitely tell the bosses in this game were meant to be tackled in co-op, even when you grind up to the same level as them they are way harder than they should be.

I started some Mahjong game on the PSN mini range last night. It has a story tacked on which is pretty needless, and every puzzle you solve it gives you a relic for reasons I am yet to fathom out. Interestingly, or as interesting as mahjong gets, you don't have to solve all of the puzzle, you just have to match a golden pair of tiles which are normally buried deep into the puzzle. However, there are some tiles which have powers such as mixing the surrounding tiles up, pulling tiles out of the middle and removing all tiles of a certain picture. Oddly when you get to a no more moves position, it isnt game over, it just scrambles the remaining tiles and gips your final score, I'm not entirely sure why they choose to do that, but at least it's in there for retards like me.

Piyotama is also something I have been playing in fits and bursts. It's an old PSN game where you have to line up coloured eggs to make them disappear. Confusing at first because of the way you swap eggs about, you soon get the hang. Whether you enjoy it is another matter though, it's hardly a stellar game, but it's enough to distract you for 30 minutes.

Darius Burst is the sequel to G Darius, which was awesome. However, that was on the PS2 and was a joy to play. This is on the PSP (via import) and due to that it suffers. Stupid PSP being shit. I imagine if you could play it with a pad or a stick it would be really enjoyable. As it stands though, it isn't.

I also had a hour or so on MAG today. Despite looking a little rough round the edges, it's actually pretty good. Surprise me do? Surprise me do!

[Cyberpunk]

It's been a posted here. Sorry about that guys, but here's what I've been doing.

Mostly, I've been playing Forza Motorsport 3 for the MFGamers Tourney, and whilst I'm not the best driver in the world, I've been holding my own, and using an unusual car too. Iced Gem has sort of laid down the gauntlet to me, so we've had a fun trade off with our lap times. I've also been doing the single player campaign to accrue some much needed cash.

I've had Mass Effect 2 on the go on my Pc, and I'm enjoying it quite a lot. I never completed the first one, despite having both Xbox360 and Pc versions of it, but number 2 seems to have me hooked. I do prefer the shooting system of this one, being more Gears of War style. I've got all the DLC for it, and I'm using the Blood Dragon Armor, based on the armor from Dragon-Age Origins.

I've been convinced to go back to Trackmania United Forever, after having a 3 month break to play other things. I was missed by my friends in my old racing clan, and they've been bugging me for a while to start playing again. It's still fun, but can take up a lot of time.

At the time of writing, I have Bioshock 2 for my Pc, but I'm trying to leave it until Mass Effect 2 is finished. I'm also toying with the idea of getting Aliens Vs Predator too. Too many games and not enough time!!!

[Bob]

I have been spending a worrying amount of time on my PS3 recently, worrying because the PS3 is rubbish and stuff. I'm not even sure if my 360 has been turned on. God of War 2 was finished and there wasn't a single part of the game I didn't enjoy which was nice after the stressful last half of GoW1. It's such an epic game, I don't think I have actually played anything more epic, hopefully God of War 3 will change that. I played the demo again after I finished GoW2, although barely anything has changed I still can't wait.

Finally gave Infamous some love as well, got it at Christmas but had other stuff to play. Like most PS3 exclusives it is very well presented and a lot of fun but there are a few niggling little problems that really drag the game down over time. The main one being the main character's desire to grab everything nearby. I have died far too often because I have grabbed at walls, lamp posts, cars, buses, railings and so on when people have been shooting at me. Climbing up things works very well, it's just getting down from them that is the problem. The game would have benefited from having to grab ledges and stuff manually once you have started falling like you do in Assassin's Creed 2. Overall though I think it's a fantastic game, just a shame that there are a few little problems that are causing big problems.

Also on the PS3 but not exclusive this time is Darksiders which might be awesome or terrible, I am not sure but it is exactly the sort of game I feel like playing at the moment so I am going to say it is the best game ever. People have been saying it plays like a mix between God of War and Zelda and I was agreeing with them completely until my brother watched it for a bit and said, "looks just like Soul Reaver" at which point I changed my mind. It plays a lot like Soul Reaver. I really like the design of the characters and monsters which are really chunky and colourful and even the dungeons look pretty cool. A load of demons came along and fucked shit up so 100 years later everything is overgrown and full of evil, so the dungeons are things like cathedrals and sewers but they have all sorts of evil rocks and plants in them. Looks very nice.

I also finished Pixeljunk Shooter this week which I thought I would hate. I have not liked the previous Pixeljunk games at all so when my file share buddy bought this it just got ignored, decided to give it a quick go so I could say it was shit, act smug and tell everyone their opinions were wrong but no, it was actually quite excellent. Glad I gave it a go. Recently bought another pad as well so I'm going to see what it's like on 2 player at some point as well.

Also, played a game of Resistance 2 with my mum. It was the first time she has played an FPS for more than a couple of minutes, she spent most of it looking at the sky or floor but we managed to get quite a way through one of the Chicago missions so go my mum.

[HandsomeDead]

So I've been playing some Fallout 3 this week, finished some DLC and have maxed out my character, I'm still finding new side-quests, I found the Oasis one, you speak to a talking tree, like the Deku Tree but creepier. Some trippy shit in that game. Speaking of weird stuff I kicked Fatal Frame 4's arse, I've just been playing it in bits 'cos I found it hard to play but one weekend I just manned the fuck up and didn't stop until it was done, well I had a few stops, fights with over three enemies are hard work, especially the ghosts that come out of the flaw and grab your ankles.

I'm working through Winterbottom, awesome game, I love it when a game just understands its core mechanics and exploits them in so many inventive ways, World of Goo was the last game that did that really well too, this is just as good.

I found Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood for a tenner and I started that today, its okay so far, its an FPS thats for sure, its got some red exploding barrels too. I'm not sure about the voice acting of one of the brothers mind, I don't know who talks like that..

[Hendo]

Lots played as usual.

Bioshock 2, I'm on my third playthrough now. It's quite tough on the Hard difficulty but doesn't seem impossible.

I think there's a lot that can be said about the game, most of it extremely good. If it doesn't end up in my top ten games for the end of the year then it will have been a superb year for gaming. Currently it's probably best candidate for game of the year.

Multiplayer is still being played, although the team deathmatch mode is a little too hectic and random for my tastes so I've found it best to play in one of the more objective based game modes.

Having been recommended by everyone who's played it, I picked up Chime on XBLA for a measly 400 points, and it pretty much beats Lumines at it's own game. There's nothing else that can directly compare to it, but in basic terms it's a puzzle game where you place different shaped blocks on a grid, and music plays a part, with a beat-line running along the screen, just like Lumines. There's differences, it's not just a lazy clone, but that's probably the simplest way of describing what it is.

The music is awesome, both in how good quality the tracks and artists are, and how it's implemented with different samples playing depending on where your blocks are placed and how well you're doing in the level.

Resident Evil 5 has been returned to due to the new DLC chapter which is decently priced at 400 points and offers some more old school Resident Evil gameplay, focussing on exploring and puzzle solving rather than fighting. Granted, the puzzles aren't exactly the most complicated in the world, but it does harken back to the old games, whereas the main game is more like Gears of War in its focus of action and shooting.

I also played a brief bit of The Misadventures of PB Winterbottom but I'm largely waiting until I can play it with my co-op buddy as it seems to neatly fill the whole left by Braid, with its puzzley action.

Finally, I dusted off the Wii and played Silent Hill : Shattered Memories. It's essentially a complete re-working of the original Playstation game, where the core idea of Harry crashing his car and trying to find his daughter in this town called Silent Hill, well, that's it really - the rest of the game is completely different. There's some returning characters, or at least character names, but this is a total re-write of the game.

There's no combat, you just have to run away and these moments just produce panic. They were the bits I was least fond of, but to keep the pace of the game going, and for thematic story reasons, they have to be there.

The key hook of the game is that it changes dialogue, locations, characters and the ending, all depending on what you do in the game, but in really quite subtle ways. My first playthrough, the police officer was, er, dressed a little differently than the one in the second playthrough, for example. Second time she looked like a believable female cop, first time she looked like a pretend cop being the main stripper action at a stag do.

I think it's an astonishing game, really a lot darker than I was expecting, and it's a shame that Heavy Rain will get the (justified) respect for moving videogame narrative and story along, but this will just get forgotten.

[Dunkster]

What have I been playing recently?

Picked up the excellent HEAVY RAIN the other day & actually finished it last night but want to play thru again to see the alternate endings, some parts like getting dressed & cooking scrambled eggs can be quite tedious, but other parts of the game are truly gripping stuff & certainly the plot kept me hooked.

Playing also SONIC & SEGA ALL STARS RACING - this is truly one of the most enjoyable Sega games I've played in a while, fun, colourful - full of fantastic sunny Sega themed theme park style courses & a vast array of unlockables from

all the Sega classic games.

Forthcoming games I'm wanting are YAKUZA 3, JUST CAUSE 2, GOD OF WAR 3 & RED DEAD REDEMPTION

[HandsomeDead]

Its been quite busy this week. I'll start with Heavy Rain, Atmosphere and tone are awesome, the story seems to be borrowed from a selection of big films and is full of plot holes, some of the dialogue sucks too, but overall it kept me more entertained than I was expecting and its pushing in a direction I want to see them go so it gets two thumbs up, its much, much better than Fahrenheit. I also completed Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, I dunno what to say about it, its mind boggling and all the more enjoyable for it, taking away the combat worked really well thankfully, the running sections remind me of a simplified Mirrors Edge. Its bat shit crazy, too, which is always nice.

Also played a little of Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, I'm not getting into it, I'll put another hour into it but if it doesn't grab me then I'll start a new trade in pile, I like its setting and stuff but the game itself is leaving me cold, its a rudimentary game with a cool theme and thats it. PB Winterbottom is nearly done, I thought it was going to be finished but I got to the last level and I hit a wall again, I was excited about completing it, too. Its a shame its not getting a great deal of attention, I thought it was going to be massive, like the next Braid, Castle Crashers or 'Splosion Man but it hasn't gone that way really, shame.

I started playing retro games this week too, it started with Echo the Dolphin, man that game is frustrating, I thought it would be all serene but its brutal, I have this nice aquatic scene on my telly and I'm cursing at it, stupid fucking old game design. I swear if I was in my 20's during the 8bit/16bit era I'd probably hate games. I also started Super Metroid again and it put my faith back into retro games, I want to finish it this time.. I will finish it this time..

[Hendo]

Still playing Chime on XBLA, though I might have hit a brick wall. I'm trying to finish all the tracks in the 9 minute mode, but 3 of them I'm getting stuck on 99% coverage, which is a fly's todger away from the end. I somehow doubt I'll do them all on 6 or 3 minute runs. Great stuff though.

Took the Wii for a spin - going through my second run on Silent Hill : Shattered Memories and I also finished Art Style : Cubello to my surprise.

The more I think about it, the cleverer I think Silent Hill is, and a real shame that it's been ignored. Especially as it's the kind of game people who bitch about the system say they want. Cubello is just a brilliant take on the "match coloured blocks" kind of puzzler, well worth the 600 Wii points I paid for it.

Spent a little bit of time back in Battlefield : 1943 and I really do love that game. I hope that people will still be playing it as it just really clicked for me.

The new Battlefield baby, Bad Company 2, however, isn't clicking just yet.

The single player campaign is pretty good but in the multiplayer I'm just getting destroyed and fast. It's weird because I didn't have any major problems with the demo - I just feel thrown in at the deep end, playing with people who know it inside out and I haven't a real clue what I'm doing. It's much more fun playing in a big party with people on your friendlist, just for the fact that as you join in you get Sly angrily saying, "I hope he gets cancer!"

Picked up the second DLC chapter for Resident Evil 5 and it's the polar opposite to the first one - that was all about using your wits and the environment and solving puzzles - this is about shooting things in the face. I like both of them and both great value at 400 points each, but I can see this new one being a right bugger on the hardest difficulty.

Finally, I'm in the Blur beta and it's pretty good fun. You race around some courses and use weapons like Mario Kart, although it's more Burnout than karting, and the weapons seem to be pretty well balanced so far.

Still, more looking forward to Split/Second as it seems more interesting an idea, although this does have a Call of Duty style leveling up system, so that's me hooked.

[pickled]

This week I'll be mostly playing bfbc2 as it's a lot of awesome covered in jam. I'm fairly sure this will be my game of the week for a while, probably just the multi too, although the single player does seem fun the little I've played. Even if they have removed the instant respawn stuff like wot the first one had, and I rather liked. I may also play some lego batman as I managed to get it for the princely sum of £5 from sainsburys, which I thought was an absolute steal.

There will I expect also be some Football Manager on the psp played at some point as that game is ridiculously addictive...like crack, I got Leeds to the Premiership,won a ton of cups, then got bored, so now I'm working on getting Kettering town up there, think I may try and populate the Premiership with small clubs just for a laugh

[DANGERMAN]

Dont know how much I'll get to talk about it in the podcast, but I played Castlevania Rebirth this week, bloody fucking loved it. Actually it's not as good as the best moments of the DS/GBA games, but it does a very good job of recreating the old style games. The lack of save is a slight pain, as it means you're there all day, but without it I think it'd all be over quite soon

Also went back to and finished Folklore, I really like the folky nature of this, it captures British/Irish sensibilities pretty well for a very japanese game. Hard to explain I guess but it doesnt look like a japanese game, theres no anime, and other than one character being a bit rake like, non of it has the japanese staples outside the semi-pokemon gameplay

Other than that it was the awesome Heavy Rain, which is awesome. Really enjoyed the story, it looked awesome, pretty well acted, really well directed, didnt have any real problems with the controls bar the walking and the odd moment where you werent sure what the motion would do

Also a bit of Battlefield, but ive nothing to say about that really