The Gaming Week thread

[stoobie]

I took five DS games with me on holiday - the only one I played was Picross. In fact I played it so much when I was trying to sleep on the plane on the way home all I could see was squares. Damn stupid addictive game. I only got to play after the kids were in bed, but I would stay up til the early hours doing just one more puzzle. Bloody game.

I also downloaded Artstyle : Cube (or whatever its called) on the DSi when I got back. Strange puzzle game where you have to build cubes out of squared paper. It is quite fun and it has a nice graphic style. More squares tho so I havent played it much as I think I need a game with circles in it

[Hendo]

I've covered what I did last week on the words/speaking/mp3 thing, so I'll just reiterate how much I'm enjoying Battlefield 1943. Which I am.

[Sly Reflex]

SimCity 2000 is an odd choice to open up with, but it is the only game I have been playing on the PS3 due to it not being accessible for proper gaming. I downloaded this from the PSN store. It's aged really badly, but there is something quite addictive about seeing your town build up from nothing into a metropolis. Even though I played this to death on the Amiga way back when, I still struggle to remember what certain things do. It controls horrendously, the only way I can describe the way this game controls is like comparing it to a midget trying to wrestle a pork pie off a gluttonous ape.

N+ got a revival this week due to the price cuts. I was hoping to get some co-op in, as it feels like a long time since I completely lost my temper at a game for being so fucking hard.

Resident Evil 5. 79 fucking times! etc.

1943 is lovely. I hope all the problems are ironed out soon, as it can be quite tiresome when it wont do what it should do. Expect the same same problems when BC2 comes out. Speaking of which...

...Bad Company was revisited. Surprisingly, I didn't really suck at it, despite not playing it for quite some time. If you were new to BF though 1943, your skills will transfer over. You might find this more action packed too, as the main game mode (called Gold Rush) doesn't split everyone into 5 places like Conquest does on '43, Conquest is still there for you if you don't like Gold Rush. It's probably my favourite LIVE game of all time, when you get a squad that works and communicates the game really feels like words and intel are more dangerous to the enemy than munitions are. There was one point when we were pushed right back to the final defend point, and I managed to get up to a look out point. I was watching down on my squad mates giving them info on where soldiers where coming from, softening tanks up with my grenade launcher and generally being a look out and a spawn spot. Alone, I couldn't have done nothing, but through communication we managed to whittle down the reinforcements until we won. It's a real together we stand triumphant game, that has yet to be surpassed imho.

Peggle. Everyone's favourite 101% camp filled luck based game. I can almost hear Hendo and Ben wince while they read them words.

[Hendo]

Can't wait.

[Manicm]

This week, nothing, nothing and still nothing!

[Sly Reflex]

This week, nothing, nothing and still nothing!

Has someone stolen your thumbs?

[HandsomeDead]

This week saw me playing Rock Band 2 properly with other meatbags, even managing rope in someone a little afraid of the game, even saw them browsing online trying to find a cheap plastic guitar for themselves because more people need to love rhythm action games. I like to play it my own but getting it in that setting is something else, my vocal rendition of Bad Company's Shooting Star was something everyone should have seen. My vocal rendition of Eye of the Tiger is something we've all promised to forget.

I've also been part of the surprising popularity of Battlefield: 1943, I thought it was going to be big but not that big, when you look at your friendslist and everyone is playing it you can't help but raise an eyebrow, that sort of thing is usually just for hyped to high heaven, mainstream retail games. It is great though so fair do's, more friendly than it's bigger brothers but still well designed and open enough for different ways of playing, despite the small maps. I don't like that horse shoe map though.

Finally I've been sinking some time into The Conduit which is a strange one because while all criticisms aimed at the game are fully justified I still think it's a hard game to reveiw because it doesn't meet the expectations of a modern shooter, its designed with a old-school mentality, which isn't a bad thing per se but it's the sort of thing that lowers scores, so it's not hard to review its just those scores failing to express a review again. Overall I was mildly enjoying it but it goes shockingly hard and its not a game I'd honestly recomend.

[Cyberpunk]

This week I've had a few games on the go. I've been playing Prototype still, and still enjoying it. This game made me go back to X-Men Origins - Wolverine. What can I say about this game. I really enjoyed it. It's a brawler game, and it's way better than the movie. I trys to tell the story of Wolverine's past, and by and large, pulls it off. There are a few moments in the game when you think things could have been done better, such as when Wolverine looses all his powers, and you have to find the rooms where there are machines to re-activate them. But hey, it's a Marvel game about a guy with super powers. It's not supposed to be too deep. So equiped with my trusty X-Box360 pad, I did battle, and handed the bad guys their respective asses. Lots of blood and gore, and mindless violence makes Cyber a happy boy!!

I've also gone back to my X-Box360, and been playing Forza 2. I'm being really anal about this game, in that I'm trying to get gold on every race mode. Love the game to bits though. The cars handle really well, and look great. I've always been a sucker for racing games, and this is one of the best. Microsofts superior version of Sony's Gran Turismo. I'll have to hook my X-Box up to the net again to upload my points.

And of course, I've been playing Trackmania United Forever online with my racing clan Scottish Flat Trax. Just a little info about the game for you guys. It's a Pc arcade racing game, with several racing modes. Stadium mode is the most popular online. It involves cars that look sort of like old Formula 1 cars, but they can drive on any terrain. When playing online, you play time attack on various race tracks, and have a time limit per track, say 10 minutes. You drive the track as many times as you can in that time limit, and the best lap time wins. The game is fully user customisable, with websites dedicated to Trackmania cars, tracks, and mods. The game itself has a built in track editor, and car painter.

[Bob]

This week I have been playing some games. But not many.

Secret of Monkey Island came out on Wednesday as I'm sure everyone knows and I completed that last night. First time I have played it and I loved it for the most part, some of the puzzles were really hard though and I found myself holding down X every 15 minutes or so. You can really tell that it was made back when one game had to last until your birthday or Christmas.

Battlefield has seen some love, both 1943 and Bad Company. Bad Company is the better game, more variety, the destructible scenery actually plays a important part in the gameplay and overall it is the superior experience. However, that is to be expected and it certainly doesn't mean 1943 isn't worth playing. The style of the graphics and the bright environments are lovely and sometimes you just need that stripped back experience.

I think that's it actually. How odd

[Manicm]

This week, nothing, nothing and still nothing!

Has someone stolen your thumbs?

Nope still have my thumbs, just nothing inspiring me to play at the moment. I have some games on the go but can't be bothered to play them. Im not even managing to play a game on the train which is something ive been doing for ages!

[retroed]

This week I’ve been mostly playing Bomberman 2 on DS. Yep, I’m still working my way through the game that no-one bought. I’m getting towards the end of the game now, I am on the seventh (final) area. Each area has ten stages that are made up of sometimes multiple missions, normally three. So there’s quite a lot of content available here. The final area is bastard hard, though. Don’t you hate it when you spend an entire days worth of your DS time playing the same stage over and over, getting so close, but not actually get anywhere? This is what happened yesterday. I was on 7-5 which contains three stages. It’s hard enough getting to that last stage, but fail and you have to do it all again. It’s tricky as hell, as there’s environmental stuff to be aware of, as well as enemies that need destroying, and having to pick up extra-time drops so that you don’t run out of time. I finally managed to do it today, after having a play around with my stats by changing what I have equipped. Now I’m on 7-6 and this one is bastard hard too. But I won’t let it put me off, I’ve made it this far, and I’m going to finish this fucker. I think it’s safe to say that Bomberman 2 on DS has the best and most complete single player experience of the whole series. Top stuff.

I downloaded Battlefield 1943 on day one, and despite the original problems the game had with servers and whatnot, it hasn’t detracted from my overall opinion of the game. It’s pretty amazing, to be honest. I know that most of the MFG community has purchased this game and are playing it regularly, which should be praise enough for anyone who is yet to try it out. It’s just so well balanced, and very easy to just jump in and play a few rounds. I love the vibrant graphics with the SEGA-esque blue skies, and the sound effects help make the weapons feel very punchy. Having it sat on the hard drive is another bonus, but now whenever I switch on the 360 I keep wanting to just hit play on Battlefield 1943. Not that that is a bad thing, but I’m not exactly short of other things to play. As I mentioned in the impressions, it's great fun piling into a jeep at the start of a game with one or two others, capturing a base, then heading off to the next one. I honestly can’t fault the game, and it’s easily the best Live Arcade game I’ve purchased.

These are the two I've spent the most time with. I've had brief plays of Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood and The Secret of Monkey Island: SE, but haven't played either of them enough to write about yet.

[DANGERMAN]

My week's been pretty similar to last week with ExciteBots being pretty much the sole game I played until yesterday. I'm still enjoying it, it may prove to be a mistake to stop even over the weekend as theres so much stuff backed up now that it could be a long time till i go back to it.

Again I've been back on Dragon Quest VII, I kind of need to if I'm going to stick to my crazy boast of beating it this year. I got through a massive difficulty spike incredibly easy in the end. I probably only levelled up once per character, maybe twice, and gave everyone one new item each. But for some reason the twatting I took by a boss didnt happen second time and I pretty much ended up dangling my cock in his mouth he was that beaten. Typically though now the standard enemies are beasts, so I have to heal after pretty much every fight, and the end of the next dungeon is looking a very long way away.

I did have a quick go on Captain Rainbow. It's really funny so far, very very Giftpia, and I've yet to really do anything that constitutes a 'game' so far. But on the plus side it doesnt have the same restrictions as Giftpia. The biggest shit of the whole thing was that i did an hour or so, then when i tried to save I didnt have enough space, so I've got to start from scratch again next time

Finally I've put a couple of hours into Disgaea on the DS. A couple of hours actually equates to the tutorials, then using the exp bonus on the first level proper to stop my created characters getting destroyed quite so regularly. Really is a shame there isnt a way to copy over your ps2 save, I know it's impossible but I've got a long game ahead and way too much else to do

[stoobie]

No real consistency with my gaming this week - been playing bits and pieces here and there.

Downloaded The Secret of Monkey Island update - still a classic game - I wasnt sure about the HD update at first, but the more I played it the more I started to like it. I still flicked back to the old version every now and then just for nostalgia sake. I finished it, but I might play through it again and pick up a few achievements that I didnt get.

I also downloaded Battlefield 1943 due to every one raving about it. Not too keen. But I think that is due to everyone being really good at it apart from me. I think I have about 6 kills in total. I might dip in and out of it when I cant face getting up to change a disc but other than that i dont think I will be on it much.

I got Ikaruga on the 50% of deal of the week thing. Cripes its difficult. The graphics are lovely tho - very crisp and clean and HD-ey.

I played a bit more of Art Style Cubello - really enjoyed it. I've not been stuck on it yet, but it is starting to get really difficult with all the different cube templates it starts throwing at you. I think the controls are sometimes a bit off as well. You can try and roll a cube up and it just doesnt seem to take any notice of your stylus. For a timed game that can be pretty annoying. Good for the train journey tho

I decided to give FFXI a go as well. I havent lost myself in a JRPG/MMORPG for a while and with the next FF games coming out soon(ish) I thought I might as well try it. Despite my Xbox refusing to let me play it for ages by pretending it couldnt see the disc I eventually got it up and running. It is such a pain as you have to install PlayOnline first and then install FFXI (that alone took a 7 hour update after it had finished) and then the final expansion pack needs installing. A lot of waiting around. Then every time you play the game you have to log into PlayOnline before logging into FFXI. No wonder people never bothered with it. The game itself plays like a slower muddier version of FFXII on the PS2. I think it is going to be a grinding game as well. Played it a fair bit yesterday and I am still only level 5. It seems to have a healthy amount of players on there still so I might put a fair few hours into this one. The first month being free is a bit of a bargain as well. I chose one of the little guys (Tarutaru?) and decided to be a red mage. There is also the problem of starting so late after everyone else - they all seem to know the game inside and out, whereas I am having trouble remembering all the controls - never mind the intracacies of the game!

[HandsomeDead]

Mostly I've been playing The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker this week because I felt like it. I'm glad I did because I just thought it was alright before but I'm digging it more this time, I don't know why exactly, the whole idea of it just clicked. It's not without its faults but I wouldn't mind someone else having a go at a nautical adventure game as its pretty sweet at times. See the thread for details.

Sadly enough thats it apart from very brief goes on 'Splosion Man, Skate 2, The Conduit, BF '43 and Rock Band 2.

Though I did buy the Wipeout HD DLC today, first impressions are very good and it will definitely be mentioned here next week.

[DANGERMAN]

Played loads of stuff this week. First off Viking which the dog lent me. It mixes fairly simple combos with the odd bit of magic and some stealth. It kind of seems backwards to have you play as a stealthy viking, but it makes up for it by throwing limbs around. I was quite enjoying it but havent played it for a few days because of all this stuff...

Turtles Arcade I didnt like, shame, but I think it's probably better in multi. Sonic 3 was really good, but also way easier than I remember (or I played it too much as a kid). I'm itching to play it with Knuckles, the game feels fresher with him. I also got Garou Mark of the Wolves which is the best fighter of all time, in fact it's so good I went and bought a pad just for that game. I dont get setroyed like I did when i first got it on the Dreamcast, but nor am I a wolf marking machine again. Still sublime refined fighting.

The other XBLA game I got was Splosion Man, which I almost feel in the minority for really liking. It can be a bit of a twat, but never enough that I wanted to give up. I appreciate that it had a bit of meat to it, but it may have been a better game if it was shorter, or had twice as many levels and just made them much shorter.

I also accidentally started Disgaea last week which had turned into a bit of an itch. I dont want to get hooked on it because I've still got Dragon Quest on the go, and a hundred other games to get through, but I cant help it. I just had a trip through the item world and managed to make an item shitter (it exaggerated the minus stats... its not worth going into), but I guess i levelled up a bit and earned some more money. I might do some more story then develop something worthwhile

[spatular]

i've not been playing anything that much recently. got a new steering wheel so to try it out i played some richard burns rally on the pc, it's just as awesome as it ever was but also just as rediculously hard, did the training again which is fun, and the first rally eases you in well and is good fun but the second rally is so hard, crashing every few corners starts to annoy and become embarasing and going really slowly isn't too much fun either so i stopped playing that again.

similar love/hate thing with N+, i've already said this in the other thread but it's brilliant at the start and the platforming works so well, if you do something wrong it's your fault - i like games like that, and the levels are short enough to not mind replaying, but then the enemy missiles/lasers end up making it seem too random and undo all the good work done elsewhere in the game i still think i will return to it, determined to not let it beat me, and am still glad i got it for the 400 points.

went to an arcade show last weekend and got to play loads of 2d shooters but most importantly some more dodonpachi DFK, had 5 credits over the 2 days, it's brilliant, stupidly mental with bullets filling the screen, but with the bullet canceling mode and autobomb make it no where near as hard as it looks. also it looks really nice.

got wii sports resort today which seems really good so far but will reserve judgement for another day.

still playing halo as normal, not been playing much rock band recently which is strange.

[Hendo]

Been mostly playing Battlefield : 1943 which rocks.

The more I play it, the more variety I can understand, even though there's only 3 maps. Loads to do with 3 different classes, jeeps, tanks, planes, bombing raids, boats, anti-air guns, etc. My favourite tactic is while everyone else is fighting round one of the bases, sneak round the side of one of the other bases and take it. There's some great places to pick people off, especially camping inside the lighthouse and taking people from there. Spawn-camping is completely different, and that is very annoying.

Also played a bit of Secret of Monkey Island, which I'm just playing to enjoy the story and humour, using the hint system pretty liberally, due to some of the puzzles being pretty obscure, though some are pretty obvious when you stand back (like the red herring).

Played up to the first boss of Splosion Man and I'm in the middle - I can see Sly's complaints about it raping you with trial and error but so far it hasn't been too annoying, but then I'm not that far in.

Still improving my Flight Control scores, perfect game to play while listening to podcasts in bed.

Played a lot of Wii Sports Resort yesterday and have pretty much played every sport now. Some favourites have already shown themselves and I think the game as a whole can last.

I'm not so convinced that they'll be loads of games using WM+ and I can only think of Red Steel 2 that's on the way and I'm not massively excited for that, but I'm keeping an open mind.

[Craymen Edge]

I played a fair amount of Battlefield 1943 (360), it's fantastic when you get a bunch of friends working as a team. Hendo, the tactic you describe is an old favourite of mine from the PC games too. Not only do you get a quick and easy points boost, but your team gets to spawn on both sides of the enemy, it's great.

I completed The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition (PC), and had a lot of fun doing it. The new HD art is hit and miss in my opinion; the backgrounds are fantastic but some of the characters look a little weird, none more so than Guybrush and his hair when facing the screen. The new art also emphasizes the crude animation in the original game.

The music and sound is much more of a success, it really adds a lot to the game, and the spoken dialogue is for the most part excellent. I particularly liked the delivery of incorrect responses in the insult sword-fighting section.

I completed the excellent Time Gentlemen, Please! (PC) again. I've spoken about it before in the completed games thread. I think it's a brilliantly written modern point and click adventure, and well worth the £3 they're asking for it.

Another point and click completed this week (that makes 6 this month, I think): Blade Runner (PC). I've a lot of nostalgia for this one, having loved it when I first played it back in around 1997, and I'm glad to say it still stands up for the most part. The job they did evoking the atmosphere of the film is second to none. It can be a bit difficult to run properly on modern machines. There's a non-essential shooting range that I avoided because it didn't work properly, and I had to load my CPU to about 90% to make it slow enough to get through another section. Those issues aside, I'm happy to report that the atmosphere, story and characters were just as enjoyable as I remember.

I completed The Maw (360)and the extra DLC levels. I got the 100% completion, which probably added an hour to what is a short, but really enjoyable game. How they manage to put such character into a purple one-eyed blob is amazing. As a surprise bonus, completing the game gives you a totally sweet premium dashboard theme.

Speaking of personality, Twisted Pixel surpassed the fantastic work they did on The Maw with the titular character from 'Splosion Man (360). That mad little bastard is so full of character, I spent the first 5 or 6 levels just laughing at the things he does. I'm aware it gets hard later, but I'm just up to level 1-12 and the Donut man, and I'm enjoying it a lot so far.

[spatular]

Also played a bit of Secret of Monkey Island, which I'm just playing to enjoy the story and humour, using the hint system pretty liberally, due to some of the puzzles being pretty obscure, though some are pretty obvious when you stand back (like the red herring).

i knew i'd forgotten something, been playing that a bit too and agree with Hendo's analysis.

[Bob]

I have started a lot this week but not finished any of it. The shame.

Splosion Man came out on Wednesday and I have mixed feelings about it. It has tons of charm obviously and it's very funny but it's just so fucking hard. What's the need man? Seriously dude, why? It's such a shock to the system after playing the Maw which was basically a game about moving forward and taking in the lovely sites and sounds. I will probably see it through to the end but I am getting very frustrated with the whole game. One of those where it all starts off great but then you start to see more and more things wrong with it until even the tiniest thing pisses you off.

I did the first level on Hitman: Blood Money and wasn't impressed. I have been told that the game opens up a lot after the first level but I'm finding it hard to muster any enthusiasm to see if they are right.

My nephews visited yesterday and refused to leave me alone so in an attempt to make them shut up I put Jak and Daxter on which I bought from someone on NowLoading. I had forgotten how good it was. Jak doesn't talk, he isn't all moody, he doesn't have a gun, he just has his buddy on his shoulder and the ability to double jump. Fantastic Played through the majority of it yesterday, came off it when I got up to the ice world which is never good on any platform game I have ever played ever. Why even bother with them? Someone tell me why!

Also bought from a dude on NowLoading was The Gregory Horror Show which I gave a quick go last night once everyone had gone to sleep. Really promising so far, captured a couple of souls and now I'm after that judgment...sorry, JUDGMENT guy. Really like the style of the graphics and the character design is great. It all seems a bit vague at the moment though, been walking round stressed out with a headache for some time now and I have no idea how to get rid of it. I'm sure it will all make itself clear as I play more.

Trash panic has had about half an hour of my time as well. Not sure about it to be honest. Shows some promise but these sorts of puzzle games have never been my strong point. My Mum will enjoy it when the PS3 is next down stairs no doubt.