Consolation Prize

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.

I finally managed to finish off Half-Life 2 over the weekend, the core game I hasten to add, not either of the episodes. As I’m not a PC gamer unfortunately I’ve arrived late to the party and this was the first time I’ve played through the game. And what a fantastic game it was, bursting at the seams with action, puzzles, story and characterisation. I’ll post my thoughts on the game in due time once I’ve managed to write up a review but I think it’s safe to say that this deserves all the plaudits it’s received over the years.

I’m now taking a break from The Orange Box for a few days as I wanted to spend some more time with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. I decided, maybe somewhat foolhardily, to play the single player campaign on “Veteran” difficulty and it’s certainly providing a challenge. Surprisingly I’ve managed to make it up to the final three chapters although there are some real frustrating moments, particularly on “Safehouse”, “Heat”, and “One Shot, One Kill” where there are some seemingly impossible set-pieces where it feels like you have to rely on luck to get through. I’ve got a feeling the last few missions may be the most difficult of the bunch but I’ll give them a shot.

This Friday sees the release of Mass Effect, a game I’ve been looking forward too since the first details and movie clips were released all those months ago. All been well I’ll pick-up my copy over the weekend and immerse myself in what could potentially be a fantastic experience.

Unfortunately I’ve not had much chance to play lots of games over the last week or so, but I’m still progressing with both Half Life 2 and Puzzle Quest when time allows.

I hope I’m now into the latter stages of Puzzle Quest as I’ve just defeated another one of the boss characters and I’m now making my way through the quests found in the “lands of war” with my level 33 druid character. Although initially I didn’t really like this class it has grown on me as the character has become more powerful and gained access to the more powerful spells.

Generally the druid doesn’t have a good selection of direct damage spells but what the class does seem to excel at is “board manipulation”. For example “Earthpower” allows you to destroy (and gain the effects of) all green mana tiles or “Evaporate” converts all blue mana tiles to yellow. Thus with careful use you can deny an opponent vitally needed mana whilst boosting your own supplies. I also found that if the board becomes too cluttered with “Skulls” you can use “Call Lightning” or “Lightning Storm” to remove them and damage your opponent if it looks like they’ll be used against you before you have chance to use them yourself.

Half Life 2 is progressing well, with my only complaint thus far being the loading times when moving between areas. Unfortunately they do interfere slightly with the game and although they’re strategically placed to not occur during pivotal sections of the game it is a bit off-putting when your hurtling along in a vehicle and the game freezes in its tracks for 20 odd seconds while the next section is loaded. Apart from that, the game is top class, hugely enjoyable and packed full of atmosphere.

Hopefully I’ll have more time in the upcoming weeks and will be able to work my way through a number of demos and arcade titles that have been released for the Xbox 360. And of course there’s also plenty of demos for me to try out on the PS3 that I’ll report on in future posts.