Consolation Prize

Going back a few years I used to be a fan of Sid Meier, from the early flight simulators like F15 Strike Eagle and F-19 Stealth Fighter to his more strategic games like Railroad Tycoon, Colonization and of course the renowned Civilization. Eventually I just stopped following what Meier was developing but I’ve always remembered his name and his legacy.

I’ve been keeping an eye on how this console centric version of Civilization was progressing with keen interest, and over the last couple of days I’ve been playing the demo, trying to decide if I actually like the game or not and if it’s worth purchasing.

Well, after a shaky start I’ve warmed to the game. To begin with I wasn’t that enthralled; the cartoon-like art design didn’t immediately appeal and the random gibberish spouted by your advisors in place of a verbal language is very irksome. Maybe I was comparing it to the Civilization from old which I remember as being quite a hardcore resource management strategy game where cartoon characterisation and comedic advisors certainly didn’t have a place.

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When I was a young whipper snapper, at the grand old age of eleven, my father went on a business trip to the land of the Rising Sun. I remember on his return he brought back lots of gifts for the family. One that was intended for yours truly, and something I still hold dear to this very day was Nintendo’s Mario Bros . One of the Game & Watch series of LCD games featuring a dual screen, clock with alarm, and all contained within a protective clamshell design that eventually became the inspiration for the Nintendo DS.

Although Mario Bros. was born in a time where technological limitations dictated the constraints of game design, where playability was distilled into one great idea, it is still as enjoyable to play today as it was back in 1983. It retains that Nintendo charm and there’s something fascinating about reveling in its unashamed simplicity.

The player controls both Mario on the right, and Luigi on the left, working in a bottling factory using the simple “up / down” switches to move the brothers between the different levels. As empty pallets roll off the machine at the bottom right Mario moves them onto the first conveyor belt where at the other end Luigi should be waiting to receive the pallet and move it up on to the next level where it heads back towards Mario. The brothers must “catch” and move the pallets up five levels of conveyors where eventually at the end of the machine Luigi, exhibiting a smile the “Cheshire Cat” would be proud of, throws the full box onto the back of a waiting truck. When fully loaded the truck zooms off into the sunset, earning the boys a well earned few seconds break until the supervisor tells them to get back to work.

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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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Unfortunately I never got around to trying out the first installment but what’s on offer here in Assault Heroes 2 is a good old school style romp of a top down shooter.

Although in the trial you start in the “P.L.A MKI Jeep” it is sometimes necessary, by choice or by force, to leave the comfort and safety of your armoured shell and proceed on foot. During these occasions you’re more vulnerable and have reduced destructive capabilities, but on the plus side you can roll to avoid attacks and at certain points in the game hijack enemy vehicles.

The jeep is quite versatile and has access to a variety of death dealing weapons. The mini-gun is the default all purpose weapon but you also select the flak cannon, flame thrower, or ice gun, with each one being more suited to certain types of enemies and cycling through weapons via the shoulder buttons is encouraged but not necessary. In addition to your weapons you also have access a limited number of grenades and when times get extremely tough you can unleash a nuke to clear the immediate area of nasties.

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OK I admit it, I’ve never heard of this “classic” arcade game that was released back in 1980 by Atari. The easiest way to summarise this game is as a 4 player mash up of Pong and Breakout with each player occupying a corner of the screen, defending their fort from bouncing balls and hopefully deflecting them back in the opponents general direction.

As is the tradition with Xbox Live retro titles the graphics have been given an overhaul with the “enhanced” mode but if you’re a bit of a masochist you can play the original mode should you desire. The upgraded mode is definitely an improvement over the original and I really can’t see anyone playing the classic mode for any other reason other than historical interest.

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Sudoku was a bit of a craze a few years ago. At one stage it seemed like I couldn’t even turn on the TV without some minor celebrity promoting their Sudoku book or harping on about how good it was. Thankfully the celebs have been and gone (and probably made a pretty penny or two out of it in the process) and the craze has subsided. Buku Sudoku, for the Xbox 360, is a little bit late to the party but it does a decent job of wrapping up the logic based number puzzler into an interesting package with great presentation and configurable difficulty levels that should appeal to fans old and new alike.

For those not in the know Sudoku is pretty straight forward to play once you’ve learned the fundamentals. The player is presented with a grid, most typically 9 x 9, which is partially filled with numbers from 1 to 9. The aim is to ensure that each column and row contains the digits 1 to 9, in addition the grid is split into regions (nine 3 x 3 regions in this example) which must also contain the digits 1 to 9. However the numerics in each row, column and region must be unique i.e. appear just the once in that row, column or region. It’s a simple principle but guaranteed to give your brain cells a bit of a workout.

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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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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.