Well after yet more hospital related trips the object of my affections is finally back on the mend, hopefully for real this time, so now that she is on the road to recovery I can but hope that things get back to regular programming.
In between driving all over the land (or that is what it feels like) to see her, I have just been chilling out with a variety of projects. Easy stuff like Fallout 3 (PC), Terminator Salvation and CSI Deadly Intent have been and gone. Plus, I sank sixty odd hours into getting the full 1,100 from Dragon Age Origins too - which was an absolute blast to play.
I'm now trying to finish up with Tropico 3 - which for some reason was released in PAL regions in November but is not out in the US until next year. Strange for us Euro folks to get ANYTHING before anyone else but I'm not going to argue with good fortune.
The game is amazingly addictive and a strategy game to boot which is not normally my thing. Basically it plays like Civilisation but with less of a global landscape. You have to build up your city from the ground up - successfully managing the industry, agriculture and housing of your people. If that doesn't float your boat then you can always go for tourist money by building airports, hotels and attractions. You also need to look after their religious needs and desire for entertainment amongst other things. The game has a fun sense of humour as you can arrange for dissenting voices to be silenced or have 'accidents' plus you can sneakily syphon money into your own slush fund should you so desire. Though if you upset people too much you could be on the wrong end of rebels, a military coup or a general uprising so a careful balane is needed.
I got totally lost in the game for a whole week to be honest and enjoyed my time immensely, at the moment I am five campaign missions away from finishing the full 1k but it was time well spent. My only quibble would be the fact that after playing the same thing over and over the charm has kind of worn off and I just want to be done now, ha ha!
Next up will be either Planet 51 or Sherlock Holmes Vs Jack the Ripper - I'm not expecting great things if I'm honest but yo never know.
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Fun times and personal trials
Been having a rough time recently due to a serious illness in the family but thankfully things seem to be picking up. It has meant a pretty stressful time and less time doing just about everything - I've barely had time to go and do any food shopping, ha ha!
Still I have tried to keep myself busy with a bit of gaming alongside keeping the house tidy and popping over to the hospital twice a day. Now that I'm back at work things are even more hectic so I tend to work, pop for a visit, eat and then go to bed. Not the best of lifestyles but hopefully things are on the upwards slope.
Games wise I buckled to the needs of the GSL (even though my team are only casual participants) and stormed through Fallout 3 (PC) and Terminator Salvation as well. I also have the new CSI game waiting for my attention. However, my brief sojourn into points based pimping has come to a crashing halt as I've been loving Dragon Age Origins instead.
The game reminds me of Baldurs Gate (same developer, so that's unsurprising I guess) and is just all around awesome. The combat system can be as simple or complex as you want it to be, though it has to be said that the flexibility of the controls can never match up to the PC version. Still the story, characters and missions are top drawer and things never seem to get dull. I'm being fairly cheap and making multiple saves in order to get all of the moral choice related achievements, as even though I love the game to bits I really don't want to play it two or three times all the way through.
Once that is done I may well go back to CSI and Fairytale Fights, which I have put off playing for now until I can find a partner to do the multiplayer achievements with. Apparently if you complete the game solo it glitches the MP stuff so you can't get it - neat trick.
I recently read Stallions post about old gaming consoles too and it succeeded in making me feel old as I flashed back to my old ZX Spectrum days - truly the pinnacle of gaming, ha ha!
Still I have tried to keep myself busy with a bit of gaming alongside keeping the house tidy and popping over to the hospital twice a day. Now that I'm back at work things are even more hectic so I tend to work, pop for a visit, eat and then go to bed. Not the best of lifestyles but hopefully things are on the upwards slope.
Games wise I buckled to the needs of the GSL (even though my team are only casual participants) and stormed through Fallout 3 (PC) and Terminator Salvation as well. I also have the new CSI game waiting for my attention. However, my brief sojourn into points based pimping has come to a crashing halt as I've been loving Dragon Age Origins instead.
The game reminds me of Baldurs Gate (same developer, so that's unsurprising I guess) and is just all around awesome. The combat system can be as simple or complex as you want it to be, though it has to be said that the flexibility of the controls can never match up to the PC version. Still the story, characters and missions are top drawer and things never seem to get dull. I'm being fairly cheap and making multiple saves in order to get all of the moral choice related achievements, as even though I love the game to bits I really don't want to play it two or three times all the way through.
Once that is done I may well go back to CSI and Fairytale Fights, which I have put off playing for now until I can find a partner to do the multiplayer achievements with. Apparently if you complete the game solo it glitches the MP stuff so you can't get it - neat trick.
I recently read Stallions post about old gaming consoles too and it succeeded in making me feel old as I flashed back to my old ZX Spectrum days - truly the pinnacle of gaming, ha ha!
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
A lovely milestone
150 retail games completed.
Lovely.
That includes all games that I have hit 1k in - some of which I have gone on to get the extra DLC for and some I have not. I have noticed that my dashboard tally only counts DLC if I play the game after said content is available. My Halo 3 achievements were showing as 800/1000 until about a month ago when I played it again and now it shows as 805/1750. Same with FIFA 09 which I have the full 1k on and plan to never play again - it shows as 1000/1000 rather than 1000/1250. A neat little twist and one that should really be standard on all websites but what are you gonna do?
So anyway, my 150 games are all at 1k and some have the DLC done too. I'm close to adding L4D and WWE 2010 to that number but for now am happy to bask in the glow of such accomplishment.
Unfortunately my final completion to hit the magic number was Monsters vs Aliens, a decent game but one that suffered from shockingly repetitive gameplay. I'm hoping to get stuck into an RPG after I finish up with wrestling, and with my copy of Dragon Age en route it could be the perfect opportunity. I still want to go back to Risen at some point as well - choices, choices.....
On the review front I have Fairytale Fights on my plate, plus Brutal Legend (which kind of fell through the cracks) and the upcoming Dragon Age which will no doubt take priority. Good times.
On the 200k race front my pal Rich is only one thousand points away from the magic number now so it is nearly over. I will have failed in my own personal goal of hitting 175k before someone got to 200k but at least I got close. Perhaps if my rental copy of Terminator Salvation shows up fairly soon then I will be able to make things more respectable. We shall see.
Lovely.
That includes all games that I have hit 1k in - some of which I have gone on to get the extra DLC for and some I have not. I have noticed that my dashboard tally only counts DLC if I play the game after said content is available. My Halo 3 achievements were showing as 800/1000 until about a month ago when I played it again and now it shows as 805/1750. Same with FIFA 09 which I have the full 1k on and plan to never play again - it shows as 1000/1000 rather than 1000/1250. A neat little twist and one that should really be standard on all websites but what are you gonna do?
So anyway, my 150 games are all at 1k and some have the DLC done too. I'm close to adding L4D and WWE 2010 to that number but for now am happy to bask in the glow of such accomplishment.
Unfortunately my final completion to hit the magic number was Monsters vs Aliens, a decent game but one that suffered from shockingly repetitive gameplay. I'm hoping to get stuck into an RPG after I finish up with wrestling, and with my copy of Dragon Age en route it could be the perfect opportunity. I still want to go back to Risen at some point as well - choices, choices.....
On the review front I have Fairytale Fights on my plate, plus Brutal Legend (which kind of fell through the cracks) and the upcoming Dragon Age which will no doubt take priority. Good times.
On the 200k race front my pal Rich is only one thousand points away from the magic number now so it is nearly over. I will have failed in my own personal goal of hitting 175k before someone got to 200k but at least I got close. Perhaps if my rental copy of Terminator Salvation shows up fairly soon then I will be able to make things more respectable. We shall see.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Multiplayer boosting and the horror it brings
Nothing is better than playing games with your friends and even boosting with them can be plenty of fun, as random conversations will crop up to fill the void and ensure it never gets too dull. What I do hate though are those few games that try and force you to arrange a big group of 6+ players into being around at the same time.
You would think that getting six people together, or even ten, would be a piece of cake but frankly it couldn't be further from the truth. Even on a brand new game like NHL 10 it was a nightmare just getting six people in one club to play one solitary game (which we didn't even have to win). A 36-1 drubbing later, to ensure the other team didn't leave, and it was a case of achievement unlocked. Boo yah!
The same success can't be said to have occured with NHL 09 which I really should have played last year to get this thing done. Sadly trying to get 10 people online at the same time and through one measly game of hockey was a logistical nightmare. Them one of our stand ins decided they were bored after five minutes and quit out - meaning the other nine of us missed out on the achievement. Poor form indeed. Hopefully we will succeed at our second attempt this evening but who the hell knows if everyone will turn up, stay the game or have the patience to wait for just one more person to join.
Why companies feel obliged to put such stupid achievements in games is beyond me. I suppose it is hardly as high on the dumb scale as the infamous NBA 1,000 people online achievement but it doesn't seem far short when you are trying to arrange everyone. Here's hoping for success at the second attempt.
On to better news and NHL 10 is done with and I'm closing in on finishing both Smackdown 10 and Monsters vs Aliens too. After which I will be returning to Risen and then starting either Fairytale Fights or Brutal Legend - time will tell. Still have a couple of outstanding reviews waiting for my attention so we shall see how things fare on that front.
Hope everyone has a happy Halloween also.
You would think that getting six people together, or even ten, would be a piece of cake but frankly it couldn't be further from the truth. Even on a brand new game like NHL 10 it was a nightmare just getting six people in one club to play one solitary game (which we didn't even have to win). A 36-1 drubbing later, to ensure the other team didn't leave, and it was a case of achievement unlocked. Boo yah!
The same success can't be said to have occured with NHL 09 which I really should have played last year to get this thing done. Sadly trying to get 10 people online at the same time and through one measly game of hockey was a logistical nightmare. Them one of our stand ins decided they were bored after five minutes and quit out - meaning the other nine of us missed out on the achievement. Poor form indeed. Hopefully we will succeed at our second attempt this evening but who the hell knows if everyone will turn up, stay the game or have the patience to wait for just one more person to join.
Why companies feel obliged to put such stupid achievements in games is beyond me. I suppose it is hardly as high on the dumb scale as the infamous NBA 1,000 people online achievement but it doesn't seem far short when you are trying to arrange everyone. Here's hoping for success at the second attempt.
On to better news and NHL 10 is done with and I'm closing in on finishing both Smackdown 10 and Monsters vs Aliens too. After which I will be returning to Risen and then starting either Fairytale Fights or Brutal Legend - time will tell. Still have a couple of outstanding reviews waiting for my attention so we shall see how things fare on that front.
Hope everyone has a happy Halloween also.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Rip offs and life sucking games
I got a free copy of Lips: Number One Hits this week. My mandate is obviously to review the game and see how it stacks up so it came as something of a shock to discover that this game was, in actual fact, just the 250 extra points worth of DLC that had been tacked onto the original Lips.
No doubt most people knew this bit of information ahead of time but it took me quite by surprise, and not in a good way. Charging full price for a retail game with only 250 points is against the terms and conditions that MS themselves designed but they seem to constantly break the rules with their own games - such as Halo (more than 1250) and Fable 2 (required a seperate game to get the original 1k). In Fable's case that was remedied, so no qualms there, but it seems that if MS can release a game with only 250 points for full price then what is to stop anyone else doing it?
Hopefully the trend will stop here or some free DLV will emerge for the game to make it worthwhile - otherwise it looks like a nice can of worms has been opened.
P.S The achievements are also laughably easy and can be done in a couple of hours tops depending on how many stars/medals you already had from Lips.
In other news I have foolishly started Supreme Commander. I found a super cheap PAL copy for the games biggest ever fan (Creech) and shipped it over to him. Obviously he would need help boosting the online component so I volunteered for that as well. The folly. The boosting was fairly quick and easy but the actual game is looking like taking hours upon hours to do. It is scant consolation that apparently no one has completed the PAL version so I could be among the first to do so. I may well take on the challenge but we shall see. It is fun to see that I have over 1k in TA points for the game even though I've only actually got 100 points worth of achievements - that's how hard/rare it is.
In other news I have nearly, so very nearly, finished with NHL 10 and (as ever) have thoroughly enjoyed it. I always seem to like hockey games for some reason and this was no exception, even though I had to suffer through a 36-1 defeat just to get the six player online achievement (we didn't want the other team to quit). Other than that it was fairly painless and is a good game for anyone with even a passing interest in the sport.
My other new 'gem' of a game was Monsters Vs Aliens, which arrived from the rental company and my other half insisted we play together. It is not totally terrible and is fairly quick and easy, so hopefully I can turn it around in double quick time and get something a bit better.
Finally I have invested some time into WWE 2010 and, again, it's not a bad game - just one that is far too similar to the last few years worth of releases. Still it is always fun to smack people repeatedly with a steel chair and then push the referee over for a few yucks. It may take me some time to grind out all of the storylines and get a wrestler into the Hall of Fame but the game is so easy that it is no big deal.
Of course, the impact of all these new games on my completion score is not good and it has sunk to a new low of just over 86% - enough to make me cry. Though I will hopefully arrest this trend with a bucketload of game completions in the near future.
No doubt most people knew this bit of information ahead of time but it took me quite by surprise, and not in a good way. Charging full price for a retail game with only 250 points is against the terms and conditions that MS themselves designed but they seem to constantly break the rules with their own games - such as Halo (more than 1250) and Fable 2 (required a seperate game to get the original 1k). In Fable's case that was remedied, so no qualms there, but it seems that if MS can release a game with only 250 points for full price then what is to stop anyone else doing it?
Hopefully the trend will stop here or some free DLV will emerge for the game to make it worthwhile - otherwise it looks like a nice can of worms has been opened.
P.S The achievements are also laughably easy and can be done in a couple of hours tops depending on how many stars/medals you already had from Lips.
In other news I have foolishly started Supreme Commander. I found a super cheap PAL copy for the games biggest ever fan (Creech) and shipped it over to him. Obviously he would need help boosting the online component so I volunteered for that as well. The folly. The boosting was fairly quick and easy but the actual game is looking like taking hours upon hours to do. It is scant consolation that apparently no one has completed the PAL version so I could be among the first to do so. I may well take on the challenge but we shall see. It is fun to see that I have over 1k in TA points for the game even though I've only actually got 100 points worth of achievements - that's how hard/rare it is.
In other news I have nearly, so very nearly, finished with NHL 10 and (as ever) have thoroughly enjoyed it. I always seem to like hockey games for some reason and this was no exception, even though I had to suffer through a 36-1 defeat just to get the six player online achievement (we didn't want the other team to quit). Other than that it was fairly painless and is a good game for anyone with even a passing interest in the sport.
My other new 'gem' of a game was Monsters Vs Aliens, which arrived from the rental company and my other half insisted we play together. It is not totally terrible and is fairly quick and easy, so hopefully I can turn it around in double quick time and get something a bit better.
Finally I have invested some time into WWE 2010 and, again, it's not a bad game - just one that is far too similar to the last few years worth of releases. Still it is always fun to smack people repeatedly with a steel chair and then push the referee over for a few yucks. It may take me some time to grind out all of the storylines and get a wrestler into the Hall of Fame but the game is so easy that it is no big deal.
Of course, the impact of all these new games on my completion score is not good and it has sunk to a new low of just over 86% - enough to make me cry. Though I will hopefully arrest this trend with a bucketload of game completions in the near future.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)