Consolation Prize

I saw an interesting statistic the other day over at Gamasutra in an article by Matt Matthews regarding the estimated “attachment” rate for each console after 23 months on the market; or in layman’s terms: How many games on average are owned by a person for each console.

The article basically shows the ratios for each console, broken down by 1st and 3rd party titles, but for simplicity’s sake and for use within this post I’ve just totalled them as:

• Sony PS3 - 5.3
• Nintendo Wii - 5.5
• Microsoft Xbox 360 - 6.6

What I thought would be interesting would be to put the attachment rate into a personal context and analyse the statistics for retail games in my possession as of this moment in time. As regular readers will know I tend to have a bias towards the Xbox 360, favouring the Microsoft banshee over the PS3 and the Wii, but to be honest I was shocked at just how many games I had accumulated for the Redmond beast over the last few years. It’s amazing how quick you can forget what games you own when they just get stuffed into a cupboard once complete.

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While waiting for the release of Fable II this week, a title I’ve been anticipating for many months, I took the opportunity to play through the Brothers in Arms: Hells Highway demo. An historical tactical first person shooter based on the events that occurred during Operation Market Garden, an allied airborne invasion that saw two American divisions and one British division dropped behind enemy lines in the Netherlands with the aim of securing key military bridges.

The WWII historical theme may be getting a bit too close to overstaying its welcome since the market became saturated with sub-par historical shooters, but there’s no denying that as a back drop for a story it’s one of the richest veins a developer can tap into. And, if handled correctly, can still deliver a meaningful FPS.

I’ve never played a Brothers in Arms game before but I definitely get the impression that this is a more tactical shooter than say Call of Duty. Playing the role of squad leader Matt Baker of the 101st Airborne Division, you’re in command of a fire team which you can order around the battlefield to provide suppressive fire support. Suppression of enemy forces is in fact the key to game, and whenever an enemy soldier is in cover a small round dial appears above their head to indicate how “suppressed” they are; the aim is to ensure the dial is completely grey, thus making life easier for yourself as you approach their flanks.

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I think it’s safe to say I’m now done with The Orange Box after successfully escorting the garden gnome - sometimes affectionately known as Trey - to the White Forest missile silo. Placing him carefully into his streamlined carriage with only Lamarr as company we said our farewells, or rather a moment of respectful silence passed between Gordon and Trey as neither uttered a word.

Overall the achievement wasn’t particularly difficult, just time consuming, and careful progress is required in some areas. The most frustrating aspect of the entire adventure was trying to keep poor old Trey in the Dodge Charger, whom had a tendency to fly out of the car at the slightest change of direction or touch of the brakes as neither the car seats nor Alyx are apparently solid objects.

It got me thinking as to the reason why I bothered to spend the time and effort to get this achievement given that it’s only worth a measly 30G. I mean to be fair; some games award that many points just for putting the game disc in the 360 so it certainly wasn’t for the miserly boost it gave my gamerscore.

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They say that “all good things come to he who waits”. An adage that certainly feels relevant as I’ve only just completed Half Life 2: Episode Two even though it has been nearly a year since the release of The Orange Box. I can now at last join the millions around the globe whom are anxiously awaiting the concluding chapter in this trilogy of episodic content – whenever it finally materialises.

So here we go again with another finely scripted, beautifully paced game that kicks off immediately after the events of Episode One as Gordon Freeman regains consciousness in the wreckage of the train - derailed by the portal storm from the Citadels destruction - which he and Alyx Vance used to escape from City 17. Reunited with his companion Alyx, and the familiar zero-point energy field manipulator (gravity gun) the pair set off in haste for the “White Forest” resistance stronghold with there precious cache of transmission data they’ve recovered from the Citadel. The Combine haven’t of course given up on there quarry, and our fleeing protagonists will be pursued mercilessly throughout.

Whereas its immediate predecessor took place in the claustrophobic surroundings in and around City 17, in contrast Episode 2 is mostly played out in a more open rural environment with trees aplenty, rocky outcrops, mining outposts, and abandoned dwellings. All of which add a great deal of diversity to the surroundings. I’m not sure whether it’s the new locales, but Episode Two certainly looks the more visually impressive entry of the series thus far even though it’s using the now ageing “Source Engine”. Whatever the reason for the apparent improvement, it would all be for naught if it wasn’t backed up by the solid level design we’ve come to expect from Valve.

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Grand Theft Auto IV, one of the most anticipated titles of the year was finally released on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 on the 29th April. The true successor to Grand Theft Auto III has been a few years in the making and fans have been salivating at the prospect of finally getting to grips with the latest sandbox game world. Combining the current generation of console hardware with Rockstars latest RAGE game engine it’s hard not to be impressed with the results achieved by Rockstar North.

As is prevalent throughout GTA games this is a “Rags to Riches” storyline with Eastern European immigrant Niko Bellic arriving in the docks of Liberty City at the invitation of his cousin Roman whom has promised that America is the “land of dreams”, bursting at the seams with money and promiscuous women. Roman has of course been embellishing the truth a little and instead of owning the mansion, four hot-tubs and fifteen sports cars as boasted, is in stark contrast struggling to make ends meet, in debt to gangsters, and owns a small time Taxi Company down in Hove Beach. And thus begins the game as Niko, with only a few dollars to his name, tries to carve out a living in the city of dreams.

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The latest firmware for the Sony PS3 (2.40) was released today and contained a few tasty morsels to keep gamers happy. Of primary interest to the majority was the introduction of “Trophies”.

Similar in nature to Microsoft’s “Achievements” on the Xbox 360, trophies are earned upon completion of a specific game related task and a little notification will kindly pop-up in the top right hand corner of the screen informing you of your success. However unlike “Achievements” which award a number of points contributing to an overall gamer score trophies are instead just classed as “bronze”, “silver”, “gold” or “platinum, and as you would imagine the easier tasks are classed as “bronze” whilst more difficult ones “gold”. A “platinum” trophy of which there is but one per game is only awarded once all other trophies have been attained for that game.

All these trophies however have little value unless there is some sort of gauge with which gamers can compare themselves against. In Sony’s case each PSN account now has a “Level” (starting at 1) and each trophy earned contributes a certain amount of experience towards the next level. The easiest way to think of this system is as if you’re leveling up your PSN account (like an RPG). We can already assume that thousands of gamers across the globe are beavering away in order to obtain the highest level possible and boast that they’re currently top of the tree.

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Although I’ve never read any of Robert Ludlum’s original Bourne novels I have enjoyed all the Hollywood movies starring Matt Damon as the ex-secret agent Jason Bourne. The books and movies have been successful but is the video game adaptation going to continue the run? Well, you can decide how the game is going to fare by trying out the demo of The Bourne Conspiracy that’s available on both Xbox Live Marketplace (1.2GB) and PlayStation Network (1.65GB).

The demo provides the player with three levels to play through, two of which “Escape from the Embassy” and the “Paris Chase” I remember from the movies, but I’m assuming the level “Eliminate Divandelen” may have been taken from one of the novels. Firstly players will immediately notice that Matt Damon hasn’t authorised the use of his likeness for the main character. Those of us whom are more familiar with the movies will feel a little disappointed that a new “face” has had to be used to represent Jason Bourne, but on the whole this shouldn’t really matter as long as the game plays well.

The three levels on offer act to showcase the different gameplay styles available in the game, after all this is Jason Bourne we’re talking about so we expect close hand-to-hand combat, thrilling gun fights, and unbelievable car chases. The demo does it’s best to serve up a slice of each but is only partly successful in delivering an exhilarating experience.

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Due to be released this Friday (23rd May, UK) a demo of the eagerly anticipated PS3 exclusive game Haze can be downloaded from the Playstation Network, weighing in at a mighty 1.57GB.

For its huge download size the actual demo is really quite short. You play a soldier from the Mantle Corporation and along with your fellow squad members are dropped into the jungle and tasked with locating a downed transport craft and securing its valuable cargo of Nectar. All in all you can blast through the level in about 15 minutes and even quicker on successive runs and this level merely acts as a tutorial for the controls and the effects of Nectar on your combat skills.

As a Mantle trooper you have access to the performance enhancing drug Nectar. When coursing through your blood Nectar enhances your vision allowing you to easily pick out enemies, increases your strength, and improves the body’s ability to recover from wounds.

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