The Gaming Week thread

[David]

Fable II is one of the only games in years to feel 'British'. we need more of that. Most other game devs in Britain just make stuff all 'American' n shit.

[HandsomeDead]

Not been goin that much really. I've had the a few games of CoD 4's multiplayer which is still great and I found I got myself into it quite nicely which is surprising as when I stopped playing I'd only just reset my rank and playing it now is like when i first played it, with not having as good weapons as everyone else and all. Didn't stop me getting a few good killing streaks.

The Klonoa remake on the Wii has been played a little too, I am just a few levels in and it's just as good as I remember, maybe a little easier. It was never hard but I thought there was more tricky bits. Anyway, lovely game.

And I'm still plodding through Ninja Gaiden II, nearly at the end now and I'm deffinatly going to see those credits roll this time.

[Hendo]

Started off the week in good style, going through my second play through of Mass Effect, which didn't take long at all. Just stuck to the main quests and avoided anything or anyone else.

One of the games I've been meaning to check out, and mentioned by Sly earlier in this thread, was A Kingdom For Keflings. Downloaded the trial and paid up when it ended and have put at least 15 hours into it already. Sly messaged me on Live about it being addictive and I jokingly said that I'd be up till 4am playing it. But I was.

No real point to it, but they've got the carrot/stick formula with the buildings and resources down to a fine art, so you can waste the entire day playing it.

After a shaky start I've really got into Far Cry 2 and it's one of the most immersive games I've ever played. The feeling of rolling down a hill in a car or pulling out a bullet with your teeth or the arms flapping all over the shop when you're running or getting run over by a jeep....there's not much like it. And it looks utterly beautiful.

My accuracy rating is about 24%, shockingly, so the chances of me getting into the multiplayer are slim to none.

Oh, and the multiplayer demo for Red Faction which I'm still likely to pick up, despite having real problems getting connected to games. Though I think the single player will be the main draw, mostly due to it being another game that won't build up a decent community behind it, as it's not Halo, CoD or Bad Company.

[spatular]

with not having as good weapons as everyone else and all.

when i play this i always use the first gun you get...

not played much outside halo/rock band this week, got she's not there on rock band, what a song that is! bit of outrun for the tournament and some bangai-o ds and that's it. gh metallica arrived today but only played one song so far (sandman - the note chart is very similar to the rock band one which is good)

[DANGERMAN]

I've just played some of the pc version of Terminator Salvation. Wow, just wow.

Firstly there's no settings as such, you have to go into the options and drop the resolution down. Bear in mind that if i drop the resolution on Crysis to 1280x800 and set the detail to low/medium depending on the section and what else I've got turned on, I can run it nice and smooth. With this I dropped it right down to 800X600 and it's still a horrible jerky mess. Theres a section with a HK (skynet aircraft) that I cant get past because firstly the collision detection is fucking woeful, and second everytime I line up a shot a lamp pst speeds into view and the game judders.

I'm also 5 cut scenes in, at leat, and have killed one thing. Atrocious, really really shockingly bad

[HandsomeDead]

with not having as good weapons as everyone else and all.

when i play this i always use the first gun you get...

I don't mind the early weapons but the ones I really got used to were unlocked later on so it's just adapting again. But I guess the M16 with the red dot sight can never fail as a reliable weapon.

[Jimboxy]

I've just played some of the pc version of Terminator Salvation. Wow, just wow.

Firstly there's no settings as such, you have to go into the options and drop the resolution down. Bear in mind that if i drop the resolution on Crysis to 1280x800 and set the detail to low/medium depending on the section and what else I've got turned on, I can run it nice and smooth. With this I dropped it right down to 800X600 and it's still a horrible jerky mess. Theres a section with a HK (skynet aircraft) that I cant get past because firstly the collision detection is fucking woeful, and second everytime I line up a shot a lamp pst speeds into view and the game judders.

I'm also 5 cut scenes in, at leat, and have killed one thing. Atrocious, really really shockingly bad

Also i hear the game is only a few hours long, well probably a lot longer if it runs so badly.

[Sly Reflex]

Game playing avalanche!

Motorstorm 2 kicked the week of as usual. Good ol' romping around in the dirt, can't beat it.

Noby Noby Boy has seen a few sessions as well this week, not one I spent too long on, but it is the perfect way to kill 10 minutes

Bionic Commando: Rearmed was purchased by a friend that I do a game share with on the PS3. It's too hard for it's own good, and not enjoyable for that very reason. The music on it made me feel really queasy too. Still, free games FTW, even if they do make you feel rage.

Fable 2 is a great game, I managed to finish it and both the DLC's that are available for it. Still aiming for the achievements on it, some are stupidly hard to get.

Left 4 Dead saw me and some friends take on a few levels. The level randomness still impresses me.

Bad Company saw a revival. It's a bloody great game, although it is over looked by other FPS. It might not do the gun play as good as some other games, but it does everything else spot on (apart from a shonky lobby system, which is utter arse). Some people try this game and decide they don't like it because they can't get 20 kills without breaking a sweat. It isn't about that at all, it's about teamwork and tactics. You can play balls out action so that a specialist can sneak in undetected and blow the crates up with C4. You can take to the skies and pilot choppers to give units down below some idea what's going on. Mortars can be dropped, tanks can be used, scenery can be destroyed around your enemies ears. Everyone plays a part. Without a well balanced team, you will not be successful. I guess that's why it gets over looked though, because everyone wants to play like a hero and run about spamming 'nades like on CoD (one of the most over rated online shooters ever imho). They are not interested in playing as a close knit team who have to change tactics depending on how things go out on the battlefield. Shame really, as they are missing out on something special, something which is pushing FPS from becoming stale.

WipeoutHD also saw a resurrection in play. I finally managed to unlock the last sled. I am shit at this game, please do not judge me. I was thinking about starting something similar with wipeout as i do with motorstorm, although I have no idea how many people would be interested in playing.

Outrun Online Arcade had a brief 5 minute play to do the online challenge on this fine forum. I didn't win. I should have got through to the next level though, if I had tried harder. Shoulda woulda coulda.

Soul Bubbles has been rocking the handheld. I should have finished it by the next time I post here. It's a pretty good game, despite the crappy dark sections at the top end.

[illdog]

This almost a months update but ive played the shit out of a ton of stuff.

Still playing Apollo Justice and have finally got to the last case, the third one about the blind pianist and the singer was brilliant.

Kane and Lynch took me to hell and back, it fairly good overall i suppose, a little bleak with a woefull cover system, but Hendo and me played some online yesterday and thats really good fun.

Timeshift can just fuck off, its a boring travesty of a game thats the same on Act 1 as it is on Act 6 - shit. Shame because the time mechanic puzzles are sometimes really clever and stopping time, blowing 16 shades of shit out of everyone in a small room and then activiating time to see all the bodies fly around at the same time is great. Ultimately its like finding 10p in a pile of dogshit.

Overlord is good fun, like Fable meets Pikmin. The problem im having with it puzzles are a little too constant - just when i get over one overly conveluted mess another one appears. Thing is its a charmingly evil game that makes me want to play it even tho im getting fucked off with it - that cant be anything but a posotive. Its huge too.

Lego Batman is maybe the best Lego theme game ive played yet, the storys are original and surprisingly good fun, well worth the £15 i paid for it of Ebayzle.

Mirrors Edge DLC (Pure Time trials) is awesome, like a childrens activity room in the sky.

Fable II re-raped, maxed out the new DLC which thankfully had some new ingame cheeves which i loved.

Blazing Birds, Mrs Pac Man and Yosumin Live! were all purchases on XBLA.

Fuel is a welcome racer that isnt Outrun in my life, but i love them both.

And just when i thought it was out of my life, i turned over in bed and there was Resident Evil 5....

[Hendo]

Yeah about that, it seems we weren't playing it on the hardest difficulty, but on Veteran. Bugger. That explains why it didn't seem that tough, although unlimited ammo always helps.

And yes, Ed, Resident Evil 5 is so far my game of the year. There hasn't been a game that's come out so far this year that I've had more fun with. It's a dumb, brainless (har!) kind of Resi with only about 2 puzzles and neither of them remotely taxing, but I've had so much fun and replayed it over and over. The replay value alone is huge.

Nowhere near tempted to get the Versus DLC though.

Mostly this week I've been hammering Far Cry 2, pretty much only playing that game all week for the most part.

The game is vast and so much fun, my only real problem with it is how if you want to collect everything once you've finished it, you have to go back to an earlier save. It makes sense with the story, but I'm sure they could've come up with something better, plus the bug got me and none of my saves are early enough that I can go back roaming round the world.

Multiplayer is good, but takes a while for the game to start due to waiting for everyone to pile into the lobby, then decide which team they're going on and then finally press the "ready" button. Could've been done much better, that. *cough* Call of Duty 4 *cough*

What?

Speaking of which, always playing CoD4 as usual. It's definitely my most played game of all time now and sits in the magic spot of top 3 games that I've played, ever.

As illdizzle says, Kane & Lynch on multi is good fun, bar a couple of laggy matches. A real shame that few other people are playing it, though we didn't have any major problems finding games, though it would be nice to have a regular bash at it as I still think it's a good idea and it's good fun too.

Apart from a little Outrun for the tournament (I drop out, I'm not good enough) and a bit of multi with Dirt McGirt, I've picked GripShift back up on XBLA. There's literally no-one playing it online and also a shame that there's only 2 people on my friends list that has it. An absolute over-looked gem and if you have 800 points knocking about then you should drop them on this. There's an impressions thread somewhere here. Oh it's also on PSN and PSP if you'd rather play it on them. It's like Mario Kart mixed with Monkey Ball.

[HandsomeDead]

I sense Gripshift is going to be the next Soul Bubbles.

I've been playing Outrun Online Arcade enough for it to be mentioned here, it really does work well for a competition because it brings out the old score chaser in you. I did plan to play CoD4 more but I just haven't been in the mood for it, so instead I've started playing Halo 3's multiplayer instead just because of the more comical and less intense vibe it has, to freshen it up I also bought all the new maps but at this point I've only played a few because people keep vetoing the ones I haven't tried, cunts. I'm enjoying it, I'm also getting abusive voice messages again.. I love Halo.

I must really want a new action game because after finishing Ninja Gaiden II I found myself messing around with other hack'n'slash until I got stuck into God of War again, but I got to a bit in the Architect's Tomb which I hate with a passion (you know the bit, treadmills, Harpies, fire, rollers that squish you, archers, all mixed together) so I might just start God of War 2 now instead.

[Sly Reflex]

Due to E3 sexy wetness time and bloody work hassles, I have not had much time to game this last week. Left 4 Dead was the main console game of choice, but even that was only played for a few hours. After spending since launch playing on the normal setting, we boosted it up to advance. Hearing the tank music suddenly became scary again.

I saw Soul Bubbles through to completion this morning after doing a few levels at a time on a night. I'm not quite sure what I think of it. Some of it was really amazing to play, some of it was frustrating and some of it was just downright boring. I'm glad I played it though, you have to give everything a chance, you never know if you like it until you have tried it. Which leads me onto...

...Final Fantasy VII I am quite digging, despite really hating FF in general because of the people who praise them like they are some mystical force that can cure Cancer. It's the first time I have actually played a 3D FF on my own, I spent quite a lot of hours when I was in my teens watching friends play, and I have small fragments of memories on bits of the story, but as a whole I am going in blind, so far I have enjoyed what I have played. If I managed to finish it without it feeling like it is dragging me down, I might investigate the other PSOne FF games when they inevitably hit the PSN store.

I am hoping I get time to play more games this week although I seriously doubt it, as life in general is getting right in the way. I reckon I played less then Ed this week, and he's just had a baby.

[HandsomeDead]

...Final Fantasy VII I am quite digging, despite really hating FF in general because of the people who praise them like they are some mystical force that can cure Cancer.

Since when does anyone really give a shit about what other people think?.. apart from folks around here, obviously.

[Sly Reflex]

It's like the people who go on about OoT being the best game evarrrrrâ„¢, you start to play it and realise that it's actually a load of old horse shit. Hype is a real game killer.

[HandsomeDead]

I suppose it can, but you've got to take the words of a fan of anything with a pinch of salt or whatever condiment you so choose.

[DANGERMAN]

Played a bit of Wolfenstein 3D on PSN. I've only played the first level really, but it's all quite tight. It is a bit expensive for a game this old with nothing really added, but yeah, decent enough to have on the HDD

I've put some stuff in the thread for Disaster, and I've mentioned Touch Detective a couple of times, but I've also played a tiny bit of Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop. It's not been so bad so far, and there are more zombies on screen than we've been led to believe, but there's a but. It's very easy to die, partly because you've got RE4:wii controls, so if you're attacked from behind you wont see it coming, but also because you need to level up, so early on you've no kind of stamina at all. I'm tempted to knock it down to easy and start again next time I play it.

Gameplay wise it's like a quicker RE4. You take aim and shoot, and when your gun breaks you can pick up various items and pound on people. Zombies, like in RE4, drop items, be it money, health or ammo. You have to run around following the pointer, track down survivors, then lead them to safety. Concept wise it's fine, really not deserving of the hate... so far. I need to play it a bit more then start a thread (after Day of Crisis is done probably)

[Hendo]

Played quite a bit of different stuff this week. Back to normal, then.

Got Red Faction : Guerrilla and it's really good but there is something stopping me from going back to it that I can't put my finger on why. It's a load of fun levelling buildings and smacking people down with a giant hammer.

The usual run through on Modern Warfare, as I suppose I should start calling it. I hope they add these maps to the new game.

I bought Condemned 2 for mere buttons but I'm not convinced so far as it's too damn dark. I like scary games and that doesn't put me off, but not being able to see, does. Or, finding it painful on the eyes. I'll try again today.

On the plus side, the Island pack finally came to Burnout Paradise and it's worth every penny. Much better value than the Cops & Robbers thing. I hope there's more content on the way but I get the feeling that we've had our lot.

Played a load more N+ on co-op. Still the greatest co-op game that has ever existed and the extra level packs really add tons more to do.

On the DS, I went back and finished Broken Sword and I fully recommend it. I then went back and tried to get into GTA : Chinatown Wars and I just don't get it. I never got into the original top-down GTA's so maybe that's it, but I've no desire to pick it back up, except that if it remains unplayed then it's a waste of money, so it'll either be picked back up soon or going in the trade-in pile.

I bought Boom Blox : Bash Party and so should you. Single player is great, multi is great, download levels, make levels, no friend codes required. You'd be a fool not to.

Finally, I've been addicted to Star Defense, a Tower Defense game from ngmoco on the iPhone. Excellent twist on the genre with it being in 3D, rotating round the planet levels with your finger as the enemies trudge round them. And the challenge mode is just a score attack mode (see how many waves you can defeat) but you can upload your score as a challenge via email, Facebook or Twitter.

Oh yeah, I also bought Peggle for 59p and I still don't get it. Sorry.

[Sly Reflex]

A game lite week again.

FFVII got a little bit of play. Not much mind, but I intend to see it through. Maybe.

Hendo sent me his copy of Fallout 3 which I have been playing this last week. At first, I couldn't see what the fuss was about. Secondly, I had a rage at the game for being a shit. There are some bad design choices, and the stuff you come across in the wastelands is just far too powerful to begin with. It makes for a frustrating experience. Now I have got my head round it, it can be enjoyable when everything is in full swing, but there is still a lot going against it that makes it frustrating to play. Bethesda have sorted a lot of problems out that annoyed while playing Oblivion, but it has introduced many with the way it has handled things. Simple things like not jotting down every quest and putting markers down for every quest means that you often wonder aimlessly until you find your goal, sometimes on mistake. It shouldn't be like this, I'm not saying I want my hand held tight for the whole ride, but a simple bit of guidance wouldn't go amiss.

MGS has been in my PS3's drive. Another PSone classic that looks like shit now down to the dated graphics. It still plays really well though. I had not realised how short it is, I have put about 2 hours into it and I am nearly at the end. I'm pretty sure the cut scenes along in MGS4 are longer than this game if you played them end to end. Still, it is enjoyable and that's all that matters.

Noby Noby Boy has seen a bit of a tinker too, Mars has been reached, and it brings new landscapes and vivid objects and characters to stretch among. Not something you would want to play for hours sure, but it's good for killing 20 minutes here and there.

[spatular]

Simple things like not jotting down every quest and putting markers down for every quest means that you often wonder aimlessly until you find your goal, sometimes on mistake. It shouldn't be like this, I'm not saying I want my hand held tight for the whole ride, but a simple bit of guidance wouldn't go amiss.

can't you select any quest you've already started from the wrist computer thing, then it shows you the way, or at least points you in the right direction? it's been a while since i played so i could be wrong, that's something that usualy would anoy me too.

[HandsomeDead]

Mass Effect first, I'm still going through my second play through with the intent of seing as much as I can. A few side quests have been a bit of a nightmare, the ones involving the Mako because I kick ass on foot. It is still the finest game this generation, it has it's issues but for what it does I am more than willing to look over them. I want to get this play through finished for the sequel that carries the save over.

Punch Out!! is also seeing some action, I'm new and shit to this but overall I am enjoying it, I might have to start playing it with a controller because sessions are short with it because it does tire me out. I'm also still fucking about with Halo 3 on multiplayer. I've been having some terrible team games this week, I've lost count of the amount of times I've driven around in a Warthog, beeping my horn only to get ignored, do they not realise how much of an advantage that can be? Also getting shot at by my own team mates when I stumble across the Banshee (the flying machine for Halo N00Bz)... cunts. I think it really is a game that lives or dies by the experiances you have, fortunatly I've had some great ones too.