Missing The Normandy

I've had to ditch the older post because it's been well over a month, and I can't just start again as if nothing has happened.

So here's the problem; I was finishing Mass Effect so I'd have something to write about, and then I moved onto Mass Effect 2. Turns out this was a poor idea because ME2 is wildly addictive, and meant that all of this time that I could have spent talking about games and stuff, I was saving the galaxy from overgrown bugs.

And now I'm putting off writing this as well, so lets just run with this;

Mass Effect is an outstanding game series. Buy the first, play it, then port your character over to the second, and play that, so when Mass Effect 3 comes out you have a universe which is entirely unique to you.

Right then. Hi.

I've played a lot recently, or more accurately since I last posted, so in the last month. Let me see...

DeathSpank, Mass Effect 1 and 2, Monkey Island 2 SE, Angry Birds, Mega Worm, Rayman 2, Limbo...

And that's pretty much it. There's so much stuff I meant to play and write about over the summer, but I just haven't had the time. Any time I'm not working, I'm playing games, and that's basically stopping me from writing.

Here's the kicker; I'm back to uni on Friday, which means I'll have the time to write about the games, but not the time to play them. But this time I've got my Xbox with me. And fable 3 comes out soon. Good times.

This has been such a non-post. I may as well have written Mass Effect on the top of the page then rubbed my face on the keyboard for ten minutes then written this bit.

Finally, I attended a BAFTA Q+A session the other day for the upcoming action-adventure Enslaved, and it was a really great evening. I met a load of great guys there, including Jon Porter, whose blog can be found here. It's great if you like valid, insightful commentary on games, as opposed to the stream of bullshit you get around these parts.

Right, I'm gonna go a watch a video about MineCraft. See y'all after Eurogamer!

Birthday Cake Joke

Although the 19th of March might not seem a big deal, it does represent a rather momentous occasion for me. One year ago today, I finally got around to setting up the blog I'd been thinking about doing for a while, and I made that first post about fishing in "Twilight Princess". A hell of a lot has changed since then. I changed the name and layout of the blog, changed consoles in July, became a semi-serious journalist, and went to university. And so, in lieu of any actual gaming updates, I'm gonna talk about my most anticipated games for this year.

And you are going to listen.

Fable 3; Can't wait to start making swords out of dragons teeth or guns out of fog or whatever. I really hope that this doesn't get delayed, cause then I'll have to set fire to something/one. I'm also gonna have to increase my GamerScore if I want really awesome weaponry.

Enslaved; might not have heard of this but it's a new action adventure from Ninja Theory, based on Monkey; Journey to the West. In future New York. And there are robots. So you know, that's cool.

Just Cause 2; I'm aware this comes out very soon, but I won't be able to play it for a while due to uni. Flying round a tropical paradise with parachuting and Spiderman-style sling shooting. And awesome cars.

HD Monkey Island 2; Cannot come soon enough.

Star Wars; The Old Republic; Although I'll probably never play it cause it's on PC and subscription, I'd love to have a go at a free trial, cause this game looks awesome. Smuggler or Bounty Hunter?

Fallout New Vegas; Might not be out this year cause of potential delays, but considering how much I loved Fallout 3, I know I'm gonna love this new iteration. Mainly because there will probably an awesome fedora hat in there somewhere.

Mass Effect 2; Although it came out earlier this year, I still have yet to play it, mainly because I haven't to finish the original. I don't want to start the game without a saved ME1 Shepard to use. Looking forward to more space opera fun. IN SPACE.

L.A. Noire; Film Noir style detective stories have always interested me so I'm really looking forward to this open world crime solving action adventure from Rockstar. And more fedora hats.

SMG2; The original is pure platforming elegance, so surely the sequel will be more of the same. It'll give me something to play over the summer on the Wii, which is good. I should really finish my second playthrough with Luigi at some point...

Half Life 2; Episode 3; Yeah, right.

You know, I never did get that Frog lure. Hm.

Singing the News

COMING TO YOU LIV- Sorry that's too loud.

Coming to you live, across the globe, report from nowhere near the front-line, this is...

The Starting Village News Network!

Last week, Portal 2 was revealed in a flurry of updates, ARG hints, radio transmissions and ASCII art (god, I hate ASCII art). It seemed odd since the whole ARG set up looked like it was going to unfold over time, slowly revealing the game bit by bit, but I guess that got kicked in the head somewhere along the way. Probably when people hammered through the radio transmission in super-quick time. Perhaps the ARG will carry on, even after the game is released.
I read the scans of the GameInformer article, and the game looks very different, but also very interesting. I've made my feelings about Portal clear, but one of my major gripes was that I didn't feel the game was long enough. The fact that this new game is full length speaks to me as I feel I would enjoy a longer game. There's also the co-op play, which could turn out to be fun. Only time will tell I suppose.


Although this is only rumour and speculation at the moment, Kotaku informs me that a Monkey Island 2; LeChuck's Revenge remake could be in the works. This is major news for me, as I adored this game as a child. It had so many fantastic puzzles and vibrant characters, and as I said previously, it's an infinitely better game than its precursor.
I remember reading... something a few months back saying that the developers were not too keen on doing MI2, but since the last one sold so well, perhaps they were persuaded. So now MI2:LR:SE is going straight to the top of my "Most Anticipated of 2010" list, slightly ahead of Fable 3 and Enslaved. Although I insist on calling it Super Moneky Island 2 Turbo HD Remix.

ROLL ON GDC Y'ALL!