Consolation Prize

And so Niko Bellic’s story has come to an end, for the time being at least. I’ve finally managed to complete all the story missions in Grand Theft Auto IV and it only took 56 hours. Yeah, I’m sure there are plenty of readers out there that whipped the game in less than half that time but it’s not how fast you get there (at least that’s what I’m telling myself), it’s the journey, and boy did I have fun.

It’s a great game, no make that absolutely fantastic, but unfortunately not without some flaws. My chief gripe.. checkpoints, or lack thereof. Yes, Rockstar have introduced the ability to instantly start the mission again if you fail via the clever integration of a text message sent straight to Niko’s mobile, but that’s little consolation if you’ve still got a 10 minute drive to the location before the actual action starts. You could flag a taxi, but the point is you shouldn’t really need to. Niko in all respects is invulnerable, if you die you just spawn at the nearest hospital, you can repeat a mission ad-infinitum so where’s the harm in just integrating a decent checkpoint system? It seems bizarre and I’m pretty sure I remember checkpoints in San Andreas.

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Well the UK bank holiday has been and gone which meant I got a nice three day weekend affording me the luxury of some extra time to play games.

I’m still tearing around “Liberty City” in GTA IV and I think I’m on the home stretch of the main story arc now, working for a mafia boss called “Gravelli”. So far the meter says I’m 70% complete and the clock is on 51 hours. I’m certainly getting value for money out of this game, bearing in mind that I usually play a game for about 15 - 20 hours on average before moving onto something new. I can easily see another 20 hours of gameplay left in GTA IV, especially if I want to try and get the 100% complete achievement, but I’m not sure if I can really be bothered hunting down those 200 pigeons flying rats.

I’ve also recently started playing God of War: Chains of Olympus on the PSP. I really enjoyed the first two games and so far this is living up to my expectations. Although there’s nothing really new in terms of gameplay it’s still a very entertaining romp through the Greek mythological setting. The game has only just begun and I’ve already had a great deal of fun “hacking and slashing” through the invading Persian army at the city of Attica to finally confront the Basilisk which has been unleashed upon the city. If the game maintains this pace it’s going to be one hell of a journey.

Well readers if you hadn’t already have guessed I’ve been thoroughly engrossed in GTA IV since its release last Tuesday and I’m pleased to say that so far it’s lived up to my expectations. It’s been a while since I’ve been so totally immersed in a game to the extent where I’ve lost track of the time, but every time I’ve loaded the disc into the 360 over the last week the entire evening has just melted away into Liberty City.

The in-game counter informs me that to date I’ve been cruising the streets for about 20 hours and completed just 23% of the game and I’ve only just opened up the second island. Man, this game is epic! Granted there’s nothing stopping me from just concentrating on the story arc and condensing the experience just to say “I’ve completed the game” but what’s the point? For me GTA is also about the exploration, the side quests, cruising the streets, and just soaking in the sights and sounds of Liberty City as much as its about the story.

I love the attention to detail in this game and could wax lyrically about all the little things that have made me smile and say out loud “that’s cool!”, but I’ll save that for another day as I’m sure there’s more surprises to come. Previously the crown for the best (personal preference) GTA game was worn by GTA: Vice City but it looks like in all probability there’s going to be a new monarch in town… The king is dead. Long live the King!

I’ve been giving Mario Kart Wii a bit of a shakedown over the weekend and I had forgotten just how much of a love / hate relationship it is.

For such a cute looking game it somehow manages to bring out the worst in me. I’ve never known a game that can be both so addictive but yet elicit so many venomous comments and curses to be thrown at the screen. This kind of reaction is not even contained to myself, but to others as-well, and over the years I’ve witnessed many a friend curse Mario, Donkey Kong, Toad, et al, with offensive language that would make a builder blush in embarrassment.

We’ve heard of “Road Rage”, but what about “Spiny Blue Shell Rage”? Admittedly it doesn’t roll off the tongue quite as easily, but for me it generates the same sort of feelings.

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I finally managed to finish off Devil May Cry 4 over the Easter Weekend. Its not an overly long game, weighing in at about 12 hours, and I’m sure it’s possible to fly through the game a lot quicker once you know what to do.

I’ve decided to run through the game once more on the next difficulty level, mainly to try and unlock some more achievements but also because you start off with all previously accumulated character experience, skills, abilities and items which makes the devil hunting so much more fun.

There were a couple of frustrating points about the game, which I’ll elaborate on when I write up a review, and you tend to retread the same path and locations about halfway through the game but overall it’s a great “hack ‘n slash” experience for fans of the genre.

As usual there’s a backlog of games waiting to be played but so little time available. So what’s next on the list? Well, a certain Miss Croft is looking seductively enticing in Tomb Raider: Anniversary, however, Kratos may have something to say about that and barge and tear his way to the front of the list when God of War: Chains of Olympus is released later this week (UK) for the PSP.

As usual I’ll keep you posted!

Following on from my
deliberation whether to play an existing game or start something new I decided to continue with Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords. I’ve been playing the game (on and off) since it was released on Xbox Live Arcade last October and I’m determined to finish it, especially as I never finished the DS version. It’s certainly providing excellent value for money but I think I’m on the home stretch now as I edge towards a final confrontation with Lord Bane.

In between playing Puzzle Quest there’s been a glut of new demo’s to try out (impressions will follow in the near future), the occasional game of Catan and a co-op session of Undertow.

Rez: HD was released today and immediately made a good impression persuading me to shell out for the full version. The game also suits my current preference for quality games that can be played in small bite sized chunks. I’m in no doubt that I’ll be playing more of this game in the days ahead.

On another note, Consolation Prize has been going for a few months now and I thought it was about time I performed some general maintenance. I’ve finally managed to add an “archives” section to the sidebar and customised the monthly results page to show post headers by date rather than the full post details. Hopefully my tinkering hasn’t caused too many problems.

Apologies for the distinct lack of posts over the last couple of weeks but in the run up to Christmas everything seems to have gone a bit haywire. In addition my broadband router decided to die on me and it took me a few days to get around to setting up a new one.

When I put my gaming hat back on again I’ve the usual back log of games waiting to be played. Firstly I need to finish off Mass Effect, which I started a few weeks back and was certainly an enjoyable, if flawed experience. Waiting to pounce from the shadows is Assassin’s Creed, a game which seems to have generated a lot divided opinions, and of course how could I forget the silent Gordon Freeman, patiently waiting for me to finish Episode 1 and 2 from The Orange Box.

So all that now remains to be said is to thank any readers that have meandered onto this blog and decided to hang around, and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

I finally managed to complete the last couple of levels of the main campaign on Veteran difficulty (not the Epilogue) on Call of Duty 4 the other night. I had a feeling the last few levels would be extremely tough and this was certainly the case for “No fighting in the war room”. Not only are the enemy crack shots, but there’s plenty of places for them to wait in ambush.

The difficulty is compounded as the mission is against the clock and you won’t get checkpoints if there isn’t going to be enough time left to complete the mission, which sometimes feels unfair but in reality is a sound game mechanic.

My patience was severely tested and if I was more easily prone to frustration I’m sure the 360 controller would now be embedded in the TV. However I did find that instead of just banging my head against a brick wall and repeating the same segment time and
time again if I made a conscious decision to leave it for another day then more likely that not I would have a breakthrough the next time I played.

There are a few more achievements I’d like to get in this game, time permitting, and I’ve no doubt the disc will be spinning once more in the 360 soon.