A Novel Idea

I love books. I also love games. If only there was some way of uniting my two passions...

What a coincidence.

Game books aren't exactly brand new, but they have been enjoying quite the rise in popularity over the past few years. Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and Halo all have their own spin off novels. Assassin's Creed has a few lack-luster adaptations. Even Gears of War, a series not known for its deep storytelling, has several tie-in novels all written by the lead writer of the series (At least that's what thirty seconds worth of research on the Waterstones website tells me).

Needs More Shotgun

Still working on posting more regularly. It's getting there. Maybe I'll post twice this month. Who knows?

Bioshock 2 was released, what, in March, possibly? I actually got it on release day for 35 quid, and it's now 7.99 on Amazon. Ah well time makes fools of us all.

Anyway, after playing it for a bit the day after release I remember thinking that it was vastly similar to Bioshock, which at the time, I had just finished playing. It wasn't bad but it seemed kinda samey which, when considering Bioshock, isn't all that bad. I got up to the second Little Sister Gather, and died quite efficiently, which led me to get stuck in a rut of not having enough money to buy ammo, and not enough ammo to kill Splicers. After a couple of attempts I quit out, and wandered off to go to a job interview.

About four months later (having passed the interview and training for the aforementioned job) I decided to pop back into Rapture, to see if anyone had fixed that leak (Spoiler: No)

It's more of the same. The plot might be a bit more convoluted, and some of the characters might be stereotyped, but under the skin, Bioshock 2 is almost a mod of the original. That's not to say that I didn't like it. The weapons started off disappointing, but once I got hold of the double barrelled shotgun, I was kicking ass all over again. The final upgrade to it left me somewhat disappointed. Random electro shocks? If I wanted to electrocute people I'd use Electro Bolt. Although I don't see why I would. Incinerate! is clearly the way forward.

Aside from the weapons and the plasmids, there's something a bit off about Bioshock 2. Nothing ever really felt as scary as it did before. There was a moment when I walked into a toilet and saw an EVE hypo on the floor I picked it up. When I turned around, a Spider Splicer dropped from the ceiling. Normally this would scare the crap out of me, but instead I went "Oh", hit him in the face with my shotgun, and blasted him across the room. It was then I realised I wasn't worried anymore. This was towards the end of the game and I was fairly tough, but still, I felt some of the magic had gone.

Speaking of the end of the game, the final area is a real plateau. The game builds up to a big crescendo and then just flat lines after a cool fight in the dark with a couple of Big Sisters. There's a interesting bit where you play as a Little Sister (Spoilers, I guess), but apart from that the end drags on for way too long.

Overall; I liked Bioshock 2, but I can see why it didn't go down too well. It didn't really try anything new.

Gasp, a new Bioshock Game! What a strange coincidence! Almost like I planned this post!

Immediate impressions; Apart from a dumb name, looks really REALLY promising. Can't wait to see where Irrational Games go with this.

Next time, shootings things in dark forests and being arty, it's Alan Wake, y'all!

Assassin's Need (To Post More Regularly)

It's been well over a month since I last posted and I've been getting myself bogged down in trying to start the next post so I'll summarize quickly;

Back home, got my Xbox, working over summer, secret job, not very content friendly.

Right. Assassin's Creed. Creeds.

I've had Assassin's Creed for ages, ever since I originally got my Xbox, when I was lent it by a friend. After said friend traded in his 360 for a PS3 and didn't ask for the game back, I figured the game was now mine. I'd never got round to playing it, but when I came back from uni, I needed something fun to play. Since Bioshock 2 seemed a bit heavy, I decided to scuttle around the streets of Damascus, introducing knives to people's jugulars.

AC is pretty good fun. The assassinations and the run up to them are all relatively formulaic, although it's still fun to pickpocket people in a busy street. The missions that involve hunting down guards in the street were quite annoying, but relatively satisfying when I pulled them off successfully. The plot wasn't fantastic, and I knew the twist was coming, although frankly, it was pretty obvious. So, I generally enjoyed AC. It reminded me a bit of the old Sly Cooper games. Only with more stabbings and crusaders. Overall thoughts; AC is pretty fun, but a bit aged.

As a result of my enjoyment of AC, I decided to get the sequel. And by decided, I mean I accidentally stumbled on it in GAME for 15 quid.

As it goes, AC2 is pretty good. The character of Ezio is much better formed compared to that of Altair. He develops from a hot-headed youth to a more mature, yet vengeful assassin. Also, he gets a very cool armour set, and has much better finishing moves.

The game is set in Italy, a country I have actually been to (hooray, I guess). I've actually been to Florence as well, so running around the city and climbing the Duomo was quite cool because I've been there. What was really weird is that I've also been to Sam Gimignano, meaning I'm fairly sure Assassin's Creed 2 was designed around me. I am probably an Assassin. Go figure.

Quick notes about AC2; Better, story, better locations, better weapons, better side quests, generally a better version of the first game. Pretty much everything I didn't like was improved, and it had Leonardo Da Vinci, which was cool. Overall thoughts; AC2 is better than AC, and still plays great.

I also got Altair's Chronicles on my iPod touch but the less said about that the beturrrrggghghhblzzzzzzzzz.

**This blogger has been almost killed by the godawfulness that is Altair's Chronicles. And honestly, I gots know idea when he'll be back. See y'all when it next occurs!**

Schmupdate

Lotsa things been occurring. Therefore, this is the next in the series of general updates, which I title by putting random letters in front of the word "update". DON'T ASK, I DON'T KNOW WHY.

Had a rather expensive month this month. Valentines Day was more expensive than usual, because I was buying many a present for my lovely girlfriend, who is lovely. And I'm sure she won't be reading this blog. I'm sure of it. Sure. Hey.

Went home on Monday evening, to see Jimmy Carr at a local theatre. A very fun evening, but more relevantly, I took the opportunity to use the 360 to have a go at Bioshock 2. I picked it up cheap from GAME cause I traded in Dante's Inferno for it. I only got to play the first hour or so, but what I played of it I enjoyed. The storyline could be interesting, and the simultaneous plasmid-and-gun combat feels great. I didn't really like the rivet gun, it didn't seem to have that much "umpf." I'm really looking forward to sitting down for a big play session at some point.

I also managed to grab six (that's right SIX) indie titles for the cheap sum of 12 quid. The pack is comprised of Machinarium, Eufloria, Osmos, Aztaka, And Yet It Moves, and Auditorium. Admittedly I haven't heard of some of them, but all the descriptions looked really interesting. That, plus Machinarium cost £15 on Steam. BARGAIN! Expect a NR review for some of them soon. I'll probably do a "Postcards From" for Machinarium as well...

Plants Vs Zombies got released on the App Store the other day, and I thought I may as well pick it up, since it's cheaper on the iPod than on Steam. I had a few reservations about it on the PC which stopped me picking it up. As a big fan of online Flash games, I've played my fair share of tower defense games, and PvZ seemed all over the place. After having a go on the iPod version, I have to say that I do enjoy it, but I still don't understand why it was such a media darling when it was released. The resource gathering is questionable at best and the plants don't feature any upgrades, which is a feature I always enjoy. That said, there's a wide range of plants to choose from, and the game has quite a good sense of humour. DOOM-SHROOM!

Right, that's that then. I'm gonna walk away from this blog post as it explodes behind me, as I strut forwards. In diamond covered boots.

See y'all next time.

On the M2 to Hell

Back from the depths of Hell, and my hometown, I have returned, truimphant and bloodied, to type into a keyboard about Dante's Inferno. Hooray! Relevant gaming news!


I've got a copy of the real Dante's Inferno and I've tried to read it a few times, but unfortunately it's a poem translated from Italian, and a lot of the flow is lost in translation. I sort of get what's going on, but when Virgil is chatting for a page about something, and I realise I haven't got a clue what he's talking about.


However, Dante's Inferno THE VIDEO GAME forgos all that talky talky crap and just throws you into Hell, with the SCYTHE of DEATH and a MAGICALLY HOLY CROSS and says "Kill the crap outta everything and save yo lady" which is a lot simpler than a page full of text talking about sinners.

I picked up the Death Edition of the game, which, amongst other things, contains a code to download a Dead Space costume for Dante. Although it doesn't add anything major to the gameplay, it's quite fun to see Isaac waving a scythe around and blabbering about honour and God.

Dante's Inferno is a good game. It's not great and it's not revolutionising any genres. My major issue with it is that it isn't just similar to God of War; it IS God of War. Visceral Games haven't just taken inspiration from GoW, they've used some of the same ideas. I won't go into too much detail, cause I've thrown in my two cents to a review Crofterz over at the Newb Review wrote, so go and have a look when it goes up. Possibly today. I am not sure of these things.

I've actually completed DI, and in one weekend, which for me, is generally unheard of. I've also got quite a few of the achievements (side note; Dante's Inferno is a great achievement game). I thinking about taking it back to GAME and returning it to get all my money back, as opposed to a trade in, and then use the money to buy Bioshock 2 (and I'll still have some left over. Maybe I'll get this)

Well. I'm hungry so... Yeah, it's about lunch time. See y'all in Purgatorio!

Stocking Up Shop

Tis the season to be gaming! That's right, I'm going HOME!... next weekend. BUT I'M STILL EXCITED!

In preperation for getting back on the Xbox, I am getting in a load of cheap old games to play until Christmas, which should both pass the time and boost my pitiful gamer score. So, in the fashion, let's run those games down together, shall we?


BIOSHOCK! Partially inspired by the recent coverage of Bioshock 2 (which looks very good) and also by the fact I've played it on a mate's console and it was pretty awesome. I like the idea of being able to upgrade a shotgun, and the fact I can combine that with telekinesis is basically my idea of some bizarre FPS-RPG nirvana. However, Bioshock is slightly scary and I haven't had a great history with scary things in the past. HOW WILL I MANAGE?!??

PRINCE OF PERSIA! (THE NEW ONE!) I liked the look of this game the moment I set eyes on it. I'm not entirely sure what you would call the art style (cell-shaded realism, perhaps?) but it looks beautiful. As far as I know the game got fair to good reviews, although apparently it's quite easy. For me this is a good thing. Easier games = faster gamerscore. I'm a wannabe achievement whore!

WARIO LAND 3! I am well aware this is not a 360 game, or infact a current generation game, but I was thinking about it the other day and remembering how brilliant it was. I have to say, maybe apart from Rayman and the original Super Mario Bros., it's probably the best platformer I've ever played. It's got non-linear level choices, multiple level endings, a wide range of enemies and power-ups, mashes platforming and puzzling brilliantly and has lovely visuals considering when it was released. I'm may even dig out my Game Boy Colour to play it as God intended. Although if I can't use it I'll use the SP.

This is all still a week away. I'm killing myself writing this.

Until then, this is me, a guy who HATED Wario Land 4, signing off until I make it back home y'all!

Bioshocker of the year...

Gasp! Surpise! Epic plot twist! And other such sentiments!

Bioshock 2 has been revealed... again. Re-revealed. Whatever, I don't know. Point is, Gamespot revealed some new footage and interviews with the guys from 2K Marin chatting about the game and so on.

And I'm kinda worried for it. I mean it looks okay, and I wanna play it... But... eesh.

I'm interested by the new concept of being a Big Daddy as opposed to the same character as before. There was the section before where you "dressed up" as a Big Daddy, but actually being one... I dunno. Of what I played of Bioshock, I liked the plasmid powers and the weapons, and both of these look to work quite well in the sequel. The pyrokinetic ability is pretty cool, especially combined with gunplay.

But the reason I'm catiously optimistic is that I think that what made Bioshock so atmospheric, bar the tons of sea water (yes I just made a pressure joke, deal with it), was that the Big Daddies were ever present forces, that you didn't feel you had to attack. When you did, you really felt threatened by them, and would run around trying to dodge them, because they were a great strong hulking mass, that had no intelligence, just hatred. But now, you are the Big Daddy... And the only thing you have to be scared of is the "Big Sister"

Which are essentially athletic Big Daddies and who I forsee will result in many gamers swearing a lot at their televisions... But ce la vie, I'm sure it'll be brill =)

In a complete different, could-only-be-vaguely-linked-via-genre, change of subject, I have bought Wolfenstein 3-D on my iPod. And why the hell not? I know little about this game, apart from;

- It's got Nazis
- It's got zombies
- It looks a bit like DOOM
- The guy looks like the guy from DOOM

But yeah I only bought it this morning and I've played it a little... The controls aren't great but it's good for a laugh, and the minimap is handy. More on this next time.

And finally, I've joined Twitter. Hooray for this;