Be Excellent To Each Other

Thanks, Roda. I've had that sitting on my shelf for ages since I picked it up cheap somewhere a while back. I really should dig it out and actually, you know, play it some time.

Finished two games recently.

Call of Duty: World at War (CoD 5): Very much an Odd Numbered Cod. Decent enough one player game built on the back of a great engine. Well worthy of a play through and a flog on via goozex, or a cheap purchase but has so much less heart than 4.

The multiplayer is nothing but a reskinned CoD4. With levels that don't feel like actual places (which CoD4 pulled of beautifully) but yet they don't work well as actual levels either (which again CoD4 managed). Rank C

Resident Evil 5: Whilst panned in the press it is suprisingly ace. It has made a number of crippling backward steps because of the multiplayer focus (namely the awful AI and the awful inventory). The more flexible, responsive controls move the game too far towards gun blazing action rather than creeping suspense. A tightrope RE4 walked gracefully. But the Co-Op makes up for it.

I'm in two minds about this. I feel like I'm reviewing Zelda: Four swords. To mark four swords down because playing it single player kinda sucked is missing the point. Sure it is hard to get 4 players and 4 gameboys but thats the cost of entry.

So with the caveat that you really, really shouldn't play the game unless you've got a real life, (or internet) chum to play the game through the whole thing together I'll give it a Rank A because I've played no co-op game like it.

Single player wants at least a grade lower than that and it should be approached knowing you are playing the game 'wrong.'

EDIT: Oh, and in case you are like me and think a solo play-through first is the best way to approach it. Trust me you shouldn't.

I finished Mirrors Edge recently

Good little game, picked it up on the cheap, as many people have pointed out the combat is annoying and slows the game down a fair notch. But it has the feel of a good old platform game with the frustrating puzzles that need solving on how to get to high places etc...
Game is a little too short (8-12 hours) but the time trials open this up a bit and keep you frustrated for hours trying to get the quickest path. An online race, rather than just against times would be a good addition.

Rank B

Also "finished" Left 4 dead.
Cracking Game Rank A

Quick thoughts on having finished a game collected together for ones perusal without the need to worry about how rigourouly thought out they are, do not equal a proper review.

It would be nice to be a UptoJump users have finished X feed, but I don't see how to do that.

Decided to go back to Ninja Gaiden 2 and finish it before starting anything else.

The camera is a bitch and it's not as good as I remember the previous Xbox version being. Still, it's enjoyable enough and still very satisfying at times.

I finished COD4 on normal and got quite far into it veteran (or whatever the next difficulty is).
Did skate as well, finally got gold on mega ramp and street at X Games so thats far enough for me.
Thing is, all this was done or a different profile before i got a gold account so i really need to do them again on my gold profile.....

My account doesn't remember that I finished GoW when i first got my xbox because of a complication when I signed up for live.
I finished Godfather 2 this week and I really enjoyed despite it getting not so brilliant reviews in other places.

Pull the other one, it's got bells on.

I finished Medal of Honor : Airbourne the other day. Some frustrating checkpointing and too many restarts from the plane but apart from that a pretty solid WW2 shooter. Some pretty decent AI in there before they get to the really annoying indestructible idiots at the end. Overall a solid B

I'm on with Stuntman Ignition now - just getting through my pile of stuff from Goozex.

Miner Dig Deep is a XNA communityy game for the 360. It is suprisingly ace. And only 200 points. It's a 2D platformer/Digdug-esque game where you dig a big deep mine to harvest minerals which you sell to buy tools to dig better with. Repetitive and grindy, but I finished it (taking maybe 5 hours) whilst enjoying it muchly. Very calming. Rank C (which isn't meant as a criticism.)

Wow, people still play MoH games?

I enjoyed the demo (the weird tropical setting and suitably jaunty music wouldn't have been my first choice for a mining game) but the tedium of having to bimble my way back to the ONE ENTRANCE constantly to sell my minerals meant by the time the demo ran out, I'd had enough.

Given how much hopping is involved, I respect the developers for recording multiple 'hup!' jump noises.

I remember an old mining game on the C64 which was similar but less platformy... you just moved a cursor to dig around, installed elevators, pumped out water, blasted rocks, etc etc.

Yeah, it is a bit tedious even with excellent use of lifts, but I used it to prepare for beddy beddy bo bos and it was nice and relaxing.

This is why I avoid MMOs I sometimes really like grind.

Have a look at the Eurogamer review - it's pretty spot on. Fair to say something of a return to form.

So that's why you and Dimmers get on so well.

No that would be because of all the anal.

Just finished 'The Darkness' quite good, some really interesting ideas but the execution of them lets it down 6 bannanas out of a bustle.

I really tried hard to get into it, as I liked the first Riddick game and Patton, but it just seemed a bit shit.

Tomb Raider Underworld- 360: Don't know if I mentioned I'd finished it. I'm awarding it a C (sometimes the controls/camera freak out or else it would have got a B). I enjoyed playing through it at the time, some lovely puzzles and scenery but the memory is fading fast.

I finished Dead Space last night. Holy shitballs it was good.

Scared me silly for the first while, then some tense action for a bit, then action scares.

It's quite clever the way it helps you through it, huge monsters have reasonably obvious targets, if you click your stick you get a glowing trail temporarily pointing you in the right direction & the HUD is great.

Despite being mostly dark it can be a really pretty game & you get time to look at it which is nice.

Zero gravity is really disorientating & fun. You also get the bonus of dismembered limbs waving at you as they float past

Most of the puzzles were a bit on the easy side, the "unkillable enemy" one tripped me up for a while, but the solution was worth the pain.


A

I really enjoyed Dead Space, seems like ages ago now.

I'll give it an A too.

Is it your copy that I've got? I really need to play it more, but when it's blazing sunshine outside, it just doesn't feel the same.

Agreed, though thick curtains & a pair of headphones help a lot.

Yes. Finish it when you can mate, send me your RB2 & Drum kit in the meantime.

Just finished Mass Effect. I rather enjoyed it, good old Bioware for trying to put together an interesting story. Combat could have done with some tightening up but it was splendid all the same.

B+

Finished Castelvania: Symphony of the Night in that I've got one of the endings and unlocked .
Bloody, bloody brilliant. Takes a while to get into the flow of it. But really great stuff. And for £6.80 an absolute bargain.

Rank: A

I've recently finished Conan and 50 Cent games.

Both are pretty similar, basic action, recurring enemies (50 cent especially, it repeats a helicopter boss about 4 times or something), very linear progression, about 10 levels each game, both last about 7 hours, both have dissappointing endings.

Fun enough though, and both deserve a C as long as you get them cheapo.

Finished FEAR 2 this weekend. I actually really enjoyed it and can draw parallels with Resistance 1 and 2 as in both series started with a very resolute and focused gameplay mechanic and applied a ruthless mantra to making you play hard to get the most from them and rewarding you with absorbing intelligent combat at the expense of varied locales or gameplay. Both of the sequels take those core mechanics of satisfyingly meaty weapons, non dumb NPCs/enemies and gameplay that has been finessed and honed to a commendable edge and have added decent stories, varied locales and decent set pieces.

FEAR 2 was that game - I don't regret a single moment I spent playing that game other than the fact that I kept forgetting to press Y for the slow-mo which would have made the moments of chaos later in the game more enjoyable, but all in all it smacked of intelligence - the weapons were great, the levels were carefully thought through and well designed, the structure of the game had enough variety to keep you coming back for more. A very solid and highly recommended 8 if you're FPS agnostic and a 9 if you love console FPSs - more enjoyable as a solo experience than Killzone 2 [1], on a par with Resistance 2.

[1] This is largely down to the consistently lame Suxaxis and it's vague sticks - if I could have played KZ2 with the 360 pad I would definitely put them on an equal footing on gameplay, but the story was more immersive in FEAR 2

The inverted castle is the second half of the game, Lave!

Cheers, chap. I've had FEAR 2 sitting on my shelf unplayed for a few months now, with no urge to pick it up due to finding its predecessor incredibly dull, and despite hearing it's leaps and bounds better.

LOLZIPOPS @

I loved the first FEAR (I even posted about it in here when I'd finished it) so I might just request it off Goosey Gander.

Oh yeah forgot I finished Resistance Fall of Man at the weekend. In the history of brown and grey video gaming there has never been a more brown and grey game - the only changes in the colour pallette are more shades of brown or slightly more grey. The actual game itself is a fairly brutal affair with plenty of repeated sections to work through thanks to frequent deaths. The weapons are quite inventive but you end up with one of the two basic machine guns for 80-90% of the game and although shooting things through cover with ther Auger rifle can be fun at first you just end up shooting at walls when the crosshair goes red - not the most interactive experience.

Overall I felt like I ploughed through it at times but generally the experience was enjoyable and I like the fact that it was quite inforgiving - it was difficult but rarely unfair.

C+

I enjoyed playing through Resistance and agree it is bloody relentless and frequently found yourself short of ammo in a firefight. It also felt long due to the unforgiving nature, but I'd score it higher than C+ because of it's qualities and it's unapologetic adherence to good solid gameplay. Resistance 2 is several magnitudes better though and shorter.

You should. I'll play through it again I think as I really enjoyed it. The intensity of the action is similar - the story is more coherent as you're not listening to answerphone messages to move the plot along and it isn't a relentless mix of building interiors like the first. The ending is a bit rude as well - I'm not surprised it got an 18 cert

Ooh, so far this year I've completed Killzone2, LBP (well, mostly), Uncharted (having had it for well over a year, them trophies finally gave me the impetus to continue - and have completed it 3 times on increasing difficulties. Shame that the hardest one is a bit of a twat), Infamous (twice, probably soon for a third time),Ratchet and Clank: QfB and fallout the first.

PS3 heavy, been catching up on that while I wait for the xbox to have a release that interests me.

Dave, we miss you in Rock Band.

CoD5 - C+

The tank level is the only thing not bettered by CoD4 and that's only because there isn't one.

Bonus points for Kiefer Sutherland and Nazi Zombies.

What's with all these plus and minus scores? Does no one know the U2J rules? Have the courage to stand by a proper mark!

I give everyone in this thread a D-.

Tom Clancy's Rainbow 6 Vegas 2 - Good result for Tom Clancy's Rainbow there over a plucky Vegas side. The game can't make up its mind whether it's a slow-moving tactical shooter or a CoD-style run-and-gunfest, leading to some jarring moments (like obvious trigger points for enemies to come pouring out of the woodwork and the game ending in a somewhat hateful old-skool memorise-the-pattern trial-and-error boss battle). And the friendly AI is moronic and occasionally suicidal. But the combat's meaty, intense and occasionally thoughtful and it was nice to be able to give my character my massive baldy heed. R6V2, then - it's annoying, it's for people who're a little too keen on the word "ordnance", but it's not bad.

RANK: C

Mass Effect: I expected it to be longer. The story's incredibly wordy, not as good as Knights Of The Old Republic and there are no characters who're close to being as memorable as HK-47. And it's saddled with the worst inventory system in the history of gaming. I liked that my moral choices were generally more "bleeding-heart liberal vs. ruthless bastard" than "candidate for sainthood vs. cycle path" though, and generally had a massively good time romping around the galaxy meeting people and shooting them in the face with a sniper rifle.

RANK: B

The older RS games are much more tactical. From what I've read, they've tried to make it a bit accessible to people who play CoD, but if I want to play CoD, I'll play CoD. Don't mess around with Rainbow Six.

Yeah, I had the third one (I think. Rogue Spear?) on the PC and enjoyed it a lot.

MyFinger bought R6V2 after we played some co-op over splitscreen. It's notably less hateful with humans, the NPC AI and command interface really is crap.

I got frustrated and gave up trying to play it on my own. My team would constantly ignore commands, throw grenades onto objects that even a five-year-old would tell you would result in a bounce back into us, stray into oncoming fire, and blatantly walk into the open and get shot to pieces.

I picked it up again with Miss Malabar, and it was great fun. Especially on the hardest difficulty level. Though she'd already completed it, got bored, and I never got to see the end. Then she took it back off me one day to play multiplayer with friends.

I really enjoyed it, if I'm honest.

Well, I've finally gotten round to grabbing this off my shelf and I'm absolutely loving it — I didn't get more than a couple of hours into the first, and it left me a bit wary despite hearing very good things about it. I haven't completed it yet, but I think I'm nearing the end now — I'm off to Still Island right now to do some stuff with my brain.

The game is just brilliantly polished, excellently immersive, and seriously fucking creepy. Miss Malabar has insisted on me only playing it when she's here, but has spent a good deal of time with her eyes closed, and I can't count the number of times it's made her jump.

The whole game has been locked into your character's head so far; you bob slightly as you move, you see your hands, and the camera follows the path you'd expect it to in person with the movements you make — and boy does the game like to throw you around, but it's so nice to feel that connection with the character rather than feeling like you're just a hovering camera.

I would definitely give this a solid A grade so far, and hopefully the end will keep my opinion high.

Finished Mass Effect last night.

I really enjoyed it but it's not without fault.

The combat can be hit and miss (literallerarlly LOLZ) in the Mako. The main 'quest' is short, thankfully there are plenty of side missions. Alien races are quite imaginative and the visuals are stunning at times. The inventory system is awful.

Looking forward to Mass Effect 2.

B

Games I've finished recently.

Call of Juarez. The Sequel to the brand new Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood (Its a prequel if you hadnt caught on). Really enjoyed it, not a totally polished product but I had plenty of fun with it. The game is pretty linear but the story is split with tswo different characters, the rubbish Billy, and the totally awesome Reverend Ray. The Reverend rays levels pretty much involving shooting anyone in sight while citing powerful lines from a bible with a quick draw gunfight at the end, whilst Billys levels involve running away from proper cowboys, shooting defenceless rabbits, climbing a mountain to steal some feathers from an eagle minding its business and sneaking about in stealth bits (godawful) to steal peoples stuff. And the Reverend gets shown as the bad guy more often.

Anyway I really liked it and the voiceovers are pretty damn good especially for the Rev. C.

Afro Samurai-Another game I really liked, although I really like the tv series aswell. The games hampered with moments with dodgy cameras, iffy platforming, and shite reflecting bullets malarky but Istill enjoyed it muchly. I guess liking the TV Series helps but sometimes especially in cutscenes the graphics are pretty bloody good, oh and one boss battle you ahvent a clue what your doing but it sure does look pretty. Anyway its funny, you can slow down time and 3 people in half in one swing of the blade, and it doesnt out stay its welcome. B.

That'll be the one where you're falling, right?

yup.