The 4th update is here!, the first in several months and there is a lot to talk about…

As I have so many to go over since my last update I won’t be doing a large write up on every game, I wish I could but I want to clear this backlog so I can focus on more recent games along with more detailed updates however I will try and sum up my feelings on each game as best I can from memory.

Note: Games are in chronological order, most recent to oldest.

Xbox 360

• Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty city
  A return to form for Rockstar and the franchise in my opinion, GTA IV was a fantastic game but I felt lacked some of  the outright fun and lunacy I remember so well from Vice City and to some degree San Andreas, sure it had the characters and the radio stations and more; everything we have come to expect from the series but there were some unwelcome changes and cuts, some that over time I have got used to and actually prefer, like the driving, but it still lacked that insane element. That is what this collection of the DLC adds, not too much, it is still rooted in reality but enough to bring back the old feel of previous titles. The first half I played was the Lost and Damned which is a relatively dark story and much the same of GTA IV being based on the liberty city equivalent of the hells angels, The Lost motorcycle club. It expands on a character from GTA IV, Jonny, the VP of the motorcycle club and tells their clubs story as well as his part of the diamond storyline while also focusing on the collapse of the club from the inside with an insane leader and back stabbing “brothers”. The Second half is The Ballad of Gay Tony, now this is where the fun really is, to name a few it adds; Parachutes, APC missions and later APC on call, Gold Plated Uzi, Unique vehicles and missions such as the Buzzard (ultra agile and later gold plated military chopper with missiles and chain gun) and a triathlon with Nitro fitted sports cars. Telling Tony Princes story from the perspective of Luis (the guy who interrupts Jonny’s and Niko’s deal with the Jewish buyer in the main game) the game has many missions, some unique and wild and some following the same formula we have come to expect.The story is much more upbeat, if that is possible when you’re bankrupt and wanted dead by every gang boss in town, the characters are funnier especially Yusuf (played by Omid Djalili) and sees the conclusion of the “Trinity” (as Rockstar calls it) finishing the Diamond storyline among others. My verdict? This is how DLC should be, it was well planned in the original game so the stories all link together fantastically and keep the game fresh while keeping the core the same. It is also worth the money, I played mostly the story of the add ons and had a playtime of the two totalling over 12 hours with plenty left to do on the side in the way of races, parachute jumps and random characters and the like. This is DLC at its best and I will be buying this (rather than using lovefilm) in the near future.

• Batman: Arkham Asylum
  A game that came from nowhere and blew everyone away and I can vouch for that, I won’t repeat what everyone has said about this game other than it is a beautifully crafted game that not only had me wanting to finish the story but also had me wanting to explore the various locations, which is rare for games these days as they usually just add 100 flags placed all over the game map. Story, levels, game play, Voice acting all stand out as being great especially Mark Hamill who voices the Joker. Another game that I will be buying for sure and will be waiting unabated for the sequel.
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
  I’ll admit here and now I’m not one of those people who understand every nuance and memorise every detail of the large Star Wars universe so when it comes to Star Wars I would probably fall into the “Love the films but is relatively in the dark about every story detail” category. This game is a good play though; the story is interesting enough to be played through once or twice and some deeper links to other franchise elements, there is plenty customisation for your sabre, character and abilities and the game play is decent enough while the game can be repetitive it is kept fresh enough via art style and added game play elements to keep you playing on. A game I would probably play again and will most likely buy at some point, the sequel is one I look forward to as well.
• Prototype
  A sandbox Superhero (I guess, bit of a Anti-Hero as well) game, interesting story although a little B film cheesy, decent game play and ok graphics. Overall a good game which could be bettered but not original or ground breaking. It reminded me a bit of Crackdown but with a serious tone to the story and dark visuals (obviously with gore as well).
• Forza 3
  Another game that needs no introduction, probably the best racing experiences for the console bar Race Pro (although not as polished, the feel and driving in Race Pro is top notch). Finally got this finished, I simmed the races I had left to do, mainly because it can get a bit tedious after a while, Forza 3 is a great racing game but I would say it is a bit too clinical and the races seem to get longer and longer which means you end up spending more of your gaming time playing one track in one car. Apart from a few small flaws the game is great and a must for any 360 racing fan.
• Battlefield: Bad Company
  A great alternative to the modern based Call of Duty franchise, featuring some solid characters and a humorous storyline along with the tried and tested Battlefield game play, it has to be a winner. For any modern based war game fan then this game is most likely the best alternative to Modern Warfare even including some features not seen in Call of Duty such as fully destructible environments thanks to the Frostbite engine created in house at DICE. The story isn’t that integral to Bad Company 2 so if you are only just about to play this then I suggest maybe going straight for Bad Company 2 unless you want the full experience and consider yourself a completionist then go a head and play this so you have a solid grounding with the characters as I did, you won’t regret it.

• Splinter Cell: Double Agent
  The first real major change in the series from the previous three titles, I haven’t played the three originals even though I own them so this was my first complete Splinter Cell experience. I loved it, then again I love stealth in general and I found the story believable although maybe cliché at points. Game play was solid although a bit frustrating at times, allowing enough freedom in the objective based missions to not feel linear and then having several “free roam” areas at set points during the game. I also found the moral choice system to be clever and unobtrusive, allowing you to play through without even realising  there was another choice, it just depends on how daring you want to be. Re-playability is there for sure while setting up the “sequel” Conviction which is the next in the series I have to play. Enjoyable and fulfilling.
• Crackdown
  Been around for a while now so I will sum up the experience in a few words; intense freeroaming fun. From the humour and super hero powers to the morphing cars and infamous agility orbs, there is so much fun to be had and I am so hyped for the sequel coming later this summer. Remember skills for kills agent, skills for kills.
  
  
• Darksiders
  A mash up of many concepts and mechanics that have been the core of other games, most reviewers saw this as ripping off or being unoriginal but in my opinion it made all the elements it’s own and rapped it in a great story. A great puzzle combo based adventure game, it had plenty customization regarding combo moves and weapons. It very much feels like Zelda, which is no bad thing, combined with portal and some god of war for good measure. If you are looking for something to fill that Zelda hole on the 360 (or PS3) then you could do worse than Darksiders. A sequel has been announced for 2011/12, which I am very much looking forward to.

  Xbox Live Arcade

• Perfect Dark
  The N64 FPS returns in style, one of my all time favourite games from my gaming past, this is one of the many games I had on my N64 which was the first system I actually owned. Some argue Goldeneye, which is still a source of rumour regarding XBLA, was the first proper FPS, I would agree, but Perfect Dark took it one step further and I must have spent hours and hours on this game back in the day, playing with friends around a 4:3 CRT TV *sigh*. Goldeneye and Perfect Dark have not aged well on the N64 and the controls now feel down right awkward but at the time that is what they had to work with, now Perfect Dark has been remastered in the best possible way to take advantage of the modern day controllers and graphical abilities while keeping everything, and I mean everything, that made the original so great. The resolution has been upgraded to full 1080p while retaining the same graphic style and textures that have been reworked for the scale, The aiming is the same, which now is a little weird but an update has added the ability for fixed aiming, all the maps and guns are there, even the difficulty of the challenges is still god damn painful almost laughably hard. The biggest improvement to the game though has to be the inclusion of Xbox Live matchmaking allowing you to finally play not only multiplayer matches but co op/counter op and challenges with friends online, I especially loved the split screen option allowing you to play with friends in the story online while retaining the feel that they are right next to them on the same screen. This is how re-releases should be done.

  Wii

• Super Smash Bros: Brawl
  More of the same, which is always great with this series, while some will say competitive/game play wise Melee is better, I personally have never taken it too seriously and this play through was more about the main story mode not the online or verses modes. A long but somewhat no existant story much like other games but this time you have to trek between battles by platformer levels which makes this more of a platformer/action than straight up fighter. Solid gameplay and fun, all you need and want from this game especially when there is plenty to do both online and off.

  PC

• Trine
  This is a somewhat different one from the rest in this update, a platformer with puzzles along the way, interesting game play and a light story to tie it all together. Somewhat short at around 4 hours but meant to be replayed, the art style is the main draw of this game, it’s beautiful. The game play is also solid but a little uneven, you play as three characters, a wizard that can summon boxes and planks, a theif who can use her grappling hook to swing about the level and use her bow to attack enemies and a knight who has a shield and sword to cut your way through enemies; the twist,only one can be active at a time (in single player anyway, I didn’t get a chance to try co op). The reason I say uneven is because you end up spending more time as the solider or thief than the wizard as there are always enemies along the way and fewer puzzles than you would expect but the game is still great fun. The puzzles never really pass an easy/medium difficulty but still provide a break from the constant battles and platforming. I had some issues with it slightly chugging along at times which I think could be down to me having an ATI card as the installer needs PhysX, something not supported by ATI. Overall a great game if you can get it cheap; I managed to get it for just over £6 from Amazon and it is available on steam. Just don’t expect a long game, do expect an enjoyable experience.
• Battlefield: Bad Company 2
  The major competitor to Modern Warfare 2, although sadly often overlooked. Beautiful vistas, solid game play, great multiplayer (no surprise there), great story and believable, although somewhat cliché characters. There is very little to sway you away from this game, I did have some graphical issues due to my ATI drivers and on release the server browser sometimes crashed the game but these problems have been fixed now. The lack of this paragraph does it no justice but I honestly couldn’t recommend it enough.

  PlayStation 3

• Killzone 2
  A good fps with graphics that keep this from being average, how this game got 9/10 reviews confuses me, as if I played a completely different game. The issues I had were as follows; Clunky feeling movement and narrow field of view making the game feel wrong, aiming was hard and felt stiff with the PS3 controller which has basically no resistance or dead zone, way too much blur, cover system that is useless, AI that eats bullets and runs at you most of the time, far too much cursing, derivative story (I swear time after time I thought I was playing Gears) and mostly flat characters. That probably isn’t everything I hated at the time of playing however the only saving grace is the graphics, they are not that impressive and mostly grey, but one of the better games this gen especially for atmosphere (not the story). I think it is a good shooter for the PS3 but I have come to expect better, or maybe different from the target audience, either way I don’t see it being anything near the reviews claim however it can be an enjoyable experience.

  PlayStation 2

• Grand Theft Auto 3
  Industry game changer, the basis of pretty much every open world game since and still holds it’s own. Had to replay it, ’nuff said.

  PSP

• Dirt 2
  Not really worth talking about, a good rally experience  although short with only a few extra things to do past the main career mode.