Neglect and Fallout 3

I have neglected this blog for far too long.

I doubt many people will ever read my ramblings, but I miss them enough that I'm back here to blog.

Anyway, Games! That's what this blog is supposed to be about.

Fallout 3 is on my mind at the moment and I really cant tell if I like it or not. The game feels disjointed to me, perhaps it is just a sympton of being an open world game, but I find moment to moment the game isn't linking for me. 

I have had fantastic highs plotting devious schemes that resulted in ruining peoples social lives (now that I think about it I probably shouldnt be enjoying those things...or telling you I enjoyed them) but also great lows of feeling lost or uninterested in the surroundings I find. You could argue that the very fact I find plenty of the world boring a great tribute to Bethesda's accuracy of what a post-apolyptic waste land would be like. But can citizens really not be bothered to at least add a lick of paint to their dwellings after 200 years?

My biggest problem with Fallout 3 though is that it feels like a spreadsheet. There are plenty of stats and numbers that begin to lose all meaning to me. I have S.P.E.C.I.A.L. points, skill points, perks, weapen and armour bonuses not to mention status affects from items. Which numbers should I care most about most and why does changing my hat make me shoot better? I find it all creates a disconnect where I dont feel that my game actions are neceserally defining my character. I can use the XP gained from combat to increase my hacking ability and vice verca. I cant hack a computer with 49 skill points because the game requires I need 50, yet when I reach 50 points I still need to complete a minigame I could have completed with 0 skill points. 

It gets to the point where all the numbers lose meaning. I want the game to see how I am playing and react to that. It feels like I am manually having to tell the game what sort of player I am and I am being constantly forced to leave playing the game to look at various spreadsheets of numbers. Let me play the game and grow my character for me based on how I play!

It is just a shame that despite moments of real enjoyment the game cant offer me something tight and cohesive. I should also note I have not played Fallout or Fallout 2 but thanks to a recent sale at good old game ( gog.com ) I have them waiting to be played in my backlog :)

Online: Help of Hinderence?

I have neglected this blog far too much recently! Put it down to getting a job and doing some stuff for TSA... Thought I would drag one of my more recent articles I did for them into here in an attempt to kick start me into writing my own personal stuff again. I love writing for TSA, but not everything is relevant to that...

Online: Help or Hinderence?

Before this generation our consoles were simple machines, push in the cartridge or insert the disc and wait for the game to begin. The entire experience was locked into what came out of the box. A simpler time, but was it a better time?

These days I can play against people across the world, get new content for my games and even new features for my console; sounds great, right? Well, a lot of people can be jerks and new content can cost a pretty penny, but that could just be me being cynical.

Patches are something PC players have long been used to and at face value they’re great, adding new features or fixing bugs. Sometimes I worry though that now developers know they have the ability to patch, games are being forced out the door early knowing they can be fixed at a later date. In Fallout 3 PSN updates cause the game to pause for several seconds, surely that is a basic problem that should never have passed Sony or the internal QA’s testing. Knowing it could be fixed later it makes more sense for them to put the game out day and date with the Xbox360 version. Even our beloved LittleBigPlanet is missing the online create feature that was originally intended for release, with no idea when we will see it added.

Alone in the Dark was a game not fit for release day and date with its 360 counter part and so was pushed back to be fixed. It sounds like we should be getting a much better game because of this, the developers took the time to make the game work and also fix the problems even the original 360 version had. So instead of several months of a broken or unfinished game, we got a better, more complete experience on release day.

Onto downloadable content. Our good friend DLC has been amazing at adding much free content to PS3 games such as Pixel Junk Monsters and Burnout Paradise, but what it gives with one hand it takes with another. LittleBigPlanet costumes that were probably completed before the game was shipped are being charged for, some as much as £4! Soul Calibur 4 came with “console exclusive” characters that they then had the gall to charge for later. In the old days all this content would have been on the disc instead of trying to lynch us later.

I have documented my love hate relationship with online play before. As much as some of these things irk me, when used correctly the online console is a fantastic experience. Games such as LittleBigPlanet would have not been the same without it, I just wish some develepors would stop using it to rip of the consumer and push out incomplete products.

PixelJunk Monsters (PSN)

What is it?
PSN’s own desktop tower defence

Liked:
- Pretty art style
- Challenging puzzles
- Good variety of levels
- PSP Remote play support

Didn’t like:
- Difficulty ramps up quickly
- Big Fat Bees!


PixelJunk Monsters is like eating a fudge cake. Amazing at first but the further you go into the sugary delight the harder it gets to finish. The game starts off being fun yet challenging and then quickly becomes really hard! Your main objective is to stop your little village getting marauded by waves of evil monsters. You protect them by turning the surrounding forest into deadly monster slaying artillery. The art style however turns this gruesome concept into a rather cute game, even requiring your hero to dance to level up your towers.

Despite the Desktop Tower Defence aesthetic this game is more akin to a puzzle game where each level has a limited number of solutions. On harder levels this means a lot of trial and error as the game throws up a wave of monsters you weren’t expecting. Persevere though and you will eventually suss out the correct strategy.

There is also a nice 2 player mode which is identical to the main game with another player. I played this with some friends who took it upon themselves to build their own towers and help speed up the monsters demise. I also played it with my girlfriend whose job was mainly just to level up the towers. It’s nice to play a game that is fun with both the hardcore and casual crowds.

At only £3.50 you will easily get your moneys worth even if you don’t manage to beat the entire game. However there is a patch coming to make some of those levels more accessible to everyone. It’s perfect for short gaming bursts. A gem of a game and a bargain to boot!

Quick Tip: Stand over towers to dance them, don’t bother levelling up arrows, sell aerial guns when there are no more fliers

Who’s it for:
- Fans of desktop tower defence
- Fans of PixelJunk series
- People who like to game in small chunks

Who’s it not for
- People who don’t like strategy or puzzles
- People with small SD TVs

One final thing, why does the game icon show a flamethrower burning a fat bee? That would never happen…hmm….any ideas?

Online and Offline

Online multiplayer is the be all. At least that seems to be the view of some games makers out there. Don’t get me wrong, online play is a great feature to have, I just don’t want it to be at the detriment of the local multiplayer.

The two biggest recent examples of games following this trend are GTA4 and Burnout Paradise. Fantastic games and fantastic multiplayer modes, it’s just a shame I can’t play them with my friends at my house. Crash mode in Burnout was a staple party game in my house hold. My housemates don’t really follow gaming but they play what I put in front of them if it’s any good. So to have one of them enthusiastically come to me after seeing a Paradise advert only to have his smile ripped away was saddening. “Sorry Ben….we can’t play multiplayer on our one PS3!” I didn’t have the heart to tell him there was no Crash Party Mode anymore. 2 player San Andreas was also a favourite that has now been taken away from us. Now I know (insert name of criterion) says that if I want that experience back those games are still there. They aren’t though. The Xbox we used to play Burnout 3 on is dead and my PS3 won’t play PS2 games! More than that though why can’t I have the new Paradise experience at home with the people I want to play with? Don’t force me to not see my friends just so we can play GTA together!

There are plenty of us gaming online, but not all my friends are going to be owning a “next gen” system any time soon. Does that mean they should be left out of the experience?

And what about the local online play? Anyone who played Goldeneye religiously can probably put up with playing an FPS in split screens. So why cant I take my friends online to show them what a 16 player death match is like in COD4. It may even convince them to get their own machine to play without being confined to a tiny corner.

Local multiplayer obviously isn’t a forgotten concept; the entire Wii experience is built around it. Sometimes I wonder though if PS360 games makers put it in as an after thought to their online experience. The entire reason I didn’t buy Motostorm was because there was no way I could play it with anyone I knew (good to see this issue has been addressed with MS2). The ‘core are the ones championing the online experience but selling to the ‘core will only get you so far.

My main problem with online gaming with friends is the way it changes how you play. Playing online with friends is all about the game, playing offline with friends is more about hanging out. Some of my fondest conversations have come while playing a game of PES. Something just becomes lost when you try to talk over a headset.

Online multiplayer has its advantages and sometimes is logistically your best option (I know plenty of people using WoW to keep in contact with friends all over the country), but in my opinion it should only be a substitute for the all-on-one-couch experience. It almost turns into another argument of “casual” vs “hardcore” with the casual fighting for offline play and the ‘core waving the banner of online. The fight for multiplayer wages but I want both camps to be perfectly happy. There are many games out there straddling the line, Buzz TV features some of the best offline fun with your friends out there but is also offering some of the benefits of the online experience.

I’m not insinuating that the industry views offline as out dated or dead, far from it. I just hate it when online is my only option.

For me sitting on my own in my room with a headset will never be as fun as having a load of mates round and getting the beers in.

Games for couples

Since writing about Mario and gaming with my girlfriend it got me thinking. Is there a market in couples?

The Nintendo adverts really stick out to me as showing their target market. Most of these consist of friends and family gaming together. The old couple playing brain age together in bed or a family playing Mario and Sonic at the Olympics are good examples of this.

And while some of these games have been loosely marketed to couples there is no game I can think of that has actually been designed with that in mind. Females are gaming more than ever, practically every girl I know likes the odd game of Wii Sports or owns a DS. But while this casual market is open to all genders the “hardcore” market still remains male dominated. Now I know there are couples out there playing Gears of War co-op but they are largely in the minority.

Mario Galaxy is the first game I have really been able to find that has a really fulfilling couples’ experience. Can this magic be transferred elsewhere? What about allowing my girlfriend to control Clank? She could join in the shooting and running about but could jump onto Ratchets back to avoid difficult platforming. The Lego games are also a great place to go for a casual co op experience. While these are enjoyable experiences though, they don’t really fulfil my “hardcore” needs.

I think trying to come up with a couple’s game could require more than simply tacking an optional simplified game for player 2. Perhaps there is a whole genre that could be made from this? How about a 2 player RPG, one male and one female character. Each character can interact differently with the environment. There are plenty of different things you could do with this, here are a couple I thought of:

The male and female characters each have their own unique abilities that must be used together to succeed. So while the male can fight, only the female can heal (I hope that isn’t too stereotypical)

In battle the right hand side of the screen is a sudoku or picross puzzle that must be solved by the female character. While the male fights on the left hand side of the screen. Successful blows by him add hints to the right side and correct puzzle entries result in damage to the enemy.

I would even suggest a way for the two players to play apart, a mobile/web app half of the game. Every sudoku puzzle my girlfriend completes away from me on her phone levels up her character and gives her prizes for when we come back to play together. My character can raid dungeons on a web app to level up and also find treasures. The twist is that the treasures are useless to whoever earns them, the female games earn weapons and armour while the male character earns new puzzles and modes for the female. Or perhaps her own game is more akin to Animal Crossing while mine is Oblivion but when we play together we get a merged experience.

I’m sure there are plenty of smarter designers and developers out there that could come up with better ideas than me. Some of you may even baulk at the idea of your other half interrupting your gaming time. But maybe, just maybe, there is an untapped market in this.

PS. I don’t like the terms Hardcore and Casual but they are the quickest way to get my message across.

Why cant all games have co-star?

When you love to game you look to incorporate everyone you can into your hobby. Whether it’s getting your extended family to play Wii Sports or playing FIFA with your house mates. There is a game for everyone and I feel it is my duty to find it.

As I’m sure many of you do I spend an awful lot of time with my girlfriend, so it only makes sense to play games with her from time to time. Now my girlfriend plays more games than your average. Ok she’s not going to step near Bioshock any time soon but she’s completed Zelda on her DS and owns a Megadrive. So Emma is closer than most.

So the obvious thing to do is fire up the Wii. Plenty of games she can play, and play with me. I wish I could say the bruises on my arm were from over-exaggerated tennis strokes but I can’t. She does not take losing well. I’m not here to boast about my ability to beat my girlfriend at Mario Kart, I’d much rather be talking about how even our races are. I’m sure this is a dilemma many people have faced when trying to find a game to play with their more “casual” friends. Competitive games involve you beating them senseless or “going easy on them” neither of which is really a satisfying solution.

Maybe the better route to explore is playing with and not against. It makes perfect sense why frustrate her with my green shell guard technique when we can swing around Pixel Junk Eden together! Unfortunately for me there are no over-excited-wiimote actions in Eden to explain away the bruises on my arm this time. No the frustration is now coming from the fact this game also requires both players to be at a similar skill level. Here in lies the problem of most multiplayer games. In order for them to be fun all players must be of a similar ability.

Which is why it is great to see a game like Mario Galaxy come along. A game that allows for both of our skill levels to work in harmony. While I’m dealing with accurate timing and precision jumps my girlfriend can collect star pieces, point out things and stop bad guys getting me. At first I thought the “co-star” would just be another star pointer on screen like my own, but she has abilities that I do not, which gives her a meaningful and fulfilling purpose. It was refreshing to find an experience where two people with entirely different skills could play together and enjoy.

I have in fact found the shoe to be on the other foot, especially when it comes to Guitar Hero. I am not good at Guitar Hero. However I can compete against people who are, by playing on a different difficulty level.

As the games industry expands into everyone’s lives, games need to find more ways to incorporate everyone and not just by gimping the experience. I hope that Mario’s Co-star and EA’s All play are a sign of things to come. I want to be able to play a game of PES with my girlfriend and my PES fanatic friend with both of them being a meaningful and enjoyable experience. Until that point though I will have to search out the few games I can play with my girlfriend without getting bruised.

PS. My girlfriend is lovely and kind. The only time she gets really angry and aggressive with me is when we game. Maybe there is some truth in games inciting violence after all.

If my friends were different could I enjoy Final Fantasy again?

I’m 21 and since recently graduating I’m now unemployed. This means I spend most of my time job hunting, but once that is done for the day I have hours of free time to game. It’s the first time I have really had this much time off since I was at school. Yet I’m not gaming like I’m 12 anymore.

In my early child hood I would spend hours on the Amiga playing every platformer or top down shooter I could get my hands on. Looking back these games seem incredibly un inspired and almost identical. Is there really much of a difference between Alfred the chicken, Zool and Cool spot? It didn’t matter to me at the time, I loved every moment of it! I just wanted to play anything I could find.

As gaming and I grew up I moved onto other games. I played a lot of Goldeneye with my mates and played GTA all night to keep ahead of the playground. I could happily complete a 70 hour RPG, even playing it again from the beginning after it was done. Every game was still fun.

What I’m leading up to is that I recently purchased Okami. I could see it had everything I loved in a game, or at least what I thought I loved, it was fun, challenging and long! I was never interested in a game unless it had at least 20 hours of play. I started playing it and I got a little way in and I just stopped. I just couldn’t get back into it and I went off and started playing Bully (yes I know, late to the party on both accounts). Then I picked up Final Fantasy 12 (Working through a pile of shame in this down time of the year) and again I stopped pretty soon. I don’t want to play a game that is that long anymore, where you spend the first 10 hours in what is essentially tutorial mode. I think the only reason I tolerated this before was because I was doing it with friends; sometimes sat together playing through FF or rushing to school in the morning to talk about what we had done. I don’t have that anymore.

I thought my gaming tastes were changing because I was “growing up” but the more I think about it, the more I realise my gaming is completely defined by my social group. The people around me are largely in the “casual” crowd of gaming, they follow the mass media and advertisements to decide what to play. So it is highly unlikely any of them will be picking up No More Heroes anytime soon.

This means I look for games I can play with my girlfriend, like Mario Galaxy or Zak and Wiki. I am not really a Metal Gear fan yet I purchased MGS4 simply because I knew one person who was playing it. Despite being a PES fan I play FIFA so I can play with my housemates. I only play games that I can share the experience with the people around me, be it with multiplayer or through discussions of play sessions.

Maybe if I met some new people who where really into RTSs or MMORPGs I would play those.

I’ll start where I began. If my friends were different could I enjoy Final Fantasy again?

Why Reviews in under 500 words?

I thought I should explain my thinking behind Game Reviews in under 500 words.

I find generally that game reviews are bloated detailing every little part of a game, be it story line or features.

For example I wanted to know about GTA4 before I purchased it. Reviews generally began by laying out the scenario and the beginning plot. Maybe it is supposed to entice me to go buy a game but to be honest I only found game stories interesting to play, not to read about. So I wanted to avoid making reviews laying out story arcs, if a story is great a simple “The story is great” will suffice. You can then go and make your own judgements on how good or bad the story is when you play.

The GTA4 review I read also laid out the new Mobile Phone feature. Taking completely out of context of actually playing the game this is a feature that is alot more interesting to play than it is to read. Knowing I can use a mobile phone in a game isn’t going to make me rush out and buy it!

So I wanted to write reviews that avoided being 5 pages long and detail every great piece. To me the message of a review should be shorter and simpler.

So I decided to try and make some reviews in under 500 words. In which I would lay out what the game is as quickly as possible. My main loves, hates, my overall opinion and who I felt the game was for. I also decided to throw in some “quick tips”, some short handy info that could save you frustration. So in COD4 knowing enemies will keep spawning unless you push on is actually helpful to know from the outset.

Is it possible to give all the information a player needs to decide whether to buy a game in 500 words? I think so (at least I hope so). I also avoided adding a score, adding a number to a subjective opinion just seems silly to me.

I hope this is useful to people and I hope over time I will have more than my current 0 readers. I’m doing this just for hobbies sake and will always appreciate criticism and praise. So please add a comment or e-mail me.

The Making of "Burnout Paradise" review...Part 4

Going from grade B to A is certainly taking a lot longer than all of my upgrades before it. It’s also making me wonder what else does this game have to offer. Just adding one more to my required take downs or adding more points to a stunt total isn’t really that exciting. Early on I found I either hammered those modes or failed miserably. I quickly racked up 30 takedowns on an event that only required 8. So once the event is then made “harder” by putting it up to 9 takedowns it doesn’t seem to add more to the challenge.

I have more than got the hang of not hitting restart when I muck up a race and trying something else, with one exception. The burning routes. These are car specific events where a timed dash to the finish unlocks a special version of the car you are in. As far as I can tell there is only one location for each of these, so if you fail it’s a long trek back. When you find yourself switching between cars a lot it makes sense to want to do these before you change and it has become a bit of a chore on the harder routes. My solution would be to put another start point at the end. It gets around not having the “restart” option but doesn’t leave failures as overly punished.

I have finally got into doing normal races and my latest quick tip is to use the road guide at the top. When you are driving to a junction the road names will converge to show you when the turn is about to hit. If you are then in a race the “best” route will flash telling you to turn. This means I am no longer spending most of my time staring at the mini map and pausing to check my route!

I’m hoping once I get to class A the game starts offering me some new types of events. If this is all the game has to offer I am beginning to get a little fatigued….I want something new! Not just a car with a couple of higher stats.

The making of "Pixel Junk Monsters" review...Part 2

Well I lost my perfectionist bug, mainly because this game gets hard!! Sometimes takes me a few goes just to complete the level let alone do it perfectly! Hard does not mean it isn’t fun though, finding the correct solution is rewarding. What you start to realise is this is more like a puzzle game than desktop defence, in the sense that there is a right answer. Obviously you can have slight variations but by and large there is one “right” way to do a level. So this creates a lot of trial and error, especially when a wave of monsters turns up that you were not expecting.

I have just completed all the easy and medium levels and need to perfect one more level to have access to the hard ones. I’m starting to wonder at what point should I review this game? While I am having a lot of fun with it I can see it taking a while to complete all the levels, and that’s not a bad thing but I can see myself not being able to make it. The fact is I feel I have easily had my moneys worth but is that the threshold at which something should be reviewed? I have completed the main story of every game so far before I reviewed them, but those games were largely story driven compared to this. This game has been great for playing for a few minutes at a time, trying new strategies to crack a level. I wouldn’t be upset with my purchase if I never completed another level again. So I must weigh up should I complete every remaining level before I give this game a 500 word treatment or not? For now I will play on.

The making of "Burnout Paradise" review...Part 3

Burnout is opening up more and more as I play it like any game should. Progress seems quick, but without seeming too easy. I’m beginning to understand how the game works now. Now I see that although there are set event types at Junction (Race, Stunt Run, Take down etc) they are not fixed by their goals. What I mean by that is that if you have just done a 12,000 point stunt run the next stunt run event you find will be 15,000. It means you never find an even that is way above your skill level or well below, perfect!

Possibly my favourite feature is the way you gain new cars. New cars are set loose on the world and if you drive around a little bit it will zoom past and you take pursuit. The game always seems to make the prize automobile whiz past from a different direction to you. I could just imagine other games simply having the car sidle up along side you or ask “Would you like to chase?”, but Burnout gives you this really visceral way of making your choice by slamming on the hand brake. Then you are definitely in the mood to chase!

Now at the mighty Grade C I am very excited to see how the game continues to open up to me and what other secrets it has hiding away.

My only real gripe so far is having to drive all the way to a Junk yard to change my car to a more suitable one. Maybe I just need to find more ‘yards to drive through.

I also want to give online a go, and I jumped in with some randoms but I really didn’t know what was going on. So if anyone fancies playing a bit of Burnout online and showing me some of the ropes I would much appreciate it. Just got myself a Bluetooth headset so I am ready to talk rubbish in game as well as on my blog!

My PSN is glennpfc so drop me an invite and we can trash some of Paradise city.

The making of "Burnout Paradise" review...Part 2

So the big Cagney update finished installing and I booted up Burnout Paradise. My impressions after my first race event left me sceptical. I was finding the same problems I had with GTA4s open races. I spend so much time staring at the mini map that I really can’t take in the city. It feels more like I’m playing Pacman watching my little dot move around its map. I finish last and the game continues where I finished my race, miles away from the start! It will be a long way driving back to the beginning! It’s going to take a while to get out of the “Pause, Restart” mentality I usually abide by with racing games…Its just not available here.

So after my abysmal first race I thought I would carry on exploring and the next thing I knew 3 hours had gone by and I had not even attempted another event. There are so many things to find and smash around the environment that I got sidetracked looking for them. Shortcut fences greeting me with SMASH! 33/400 found messages were too hard to just drive past. Then there are the giant Burnout billboards, SMASH! 3/120!

So I thought I would brave it and attempt another event. All events are located at each traffic light intersection in the game just rev your wheels with R2 and L2 and you are off! “Road Rage, take down 3 enemy cars.” This is more like it! Now instead of staring at the map trying to be a human sat-nav I can just focus on smashing the shit out of my fellow drivers. 23 “Takedowns” (the result of a successful enemy smash) later and I am up one event win!

I’m starting to understand the decision not to let me restart races now. It encourages you to explore. If you fail an event, don’t drive back to start it again, just jump into the nearest one! With every hour I play I am beginning to enjoy this more and more…I'm beginning to believe the hype!

The making of "Burnout Paradise" review...Part 1

I know I am a bit late to the party on this, but after seeing it online for £20 I thought I would take the plunge. Literally just put the game in and am greeted with a nice 350mb download. Nice big free Cagney update :-) I don’t really like to wait, but I am sure I can find something to do while it downloads (Like write this).

Wait is almost over….wooo!

The making of "Pixel Junk Monsters" review...Part 1

I Just went online and bought Pixel Junk Monsters off the PSN store (accidentally, I was just trying to see how much it was!) Played through the first couple of levels and so far I am really enjoying it.

The game is largely inspired by Desktop Tower Defense. A game that had me hooked for almost a week not so long ago. So I would recommend anyone to go and play that free flash game first to get the feel of what PJM is all about.

My first quick tip is probably an obvious one but "Dance the towers" (which I would have known had I read the How To Play menu). Your towers need upgrading to make them more powerful and instead of standing over them to build them up, I was waisting valuable gems collected from the monsters. So in fact my actual first quick tip will just be “read the damn how to play menu”.

I’m finding myself getting the old perfectionist bug that rears its ugly head from time to time. See if you complete a level without letting a single monster through you are rewarded with a rainbow, as soon as one baddy gets through I immediately hit restart and go about tweaking my strategy. Many games I am happy enough to bomb through and just enjoy, but every now and then a game compels me to complete it with 100%, all gold, nothing left to do….I fear this may be one of those games.

Got my girlfriend to play a few levels with me and it was good fun, although I took the PS3 to hers and was playing on a 26” SD TV (as opposed to my usual 32” Widescreen HD set up) and that made it a lot harder to explain the game. So while we still had fun this game is a lot easier to play on a bigger HD screen. Slightly ironic as it is probably the least graphically impressive PSN game I have, not to say it doesn’t look good. It is artistic and stylised more than it is draw droppingly pretty. So I would advise to avoid playing this on a small screen if you can help it.

So far I am having a lot of fun and I have at least had my £3.50s worth!

Nanobots (PC Download)

What is it?

Point and click adventure game with cute funny robots. It’s an indie game and it is free! Go get it from http://www.livelyivy.com/?page_id=73

What I loved:
- Bought back fond memories of playing point and click games when I was younger
- Clever puzzles
- Great characters and great comedy
- Did I say I love point and click games?

What I didn’t like:
- When it ended. I want more!
- Couple of puzzles felt they could have been a little less ambiguous


So Nanobots is a point and click adventure game in the “classic” style. If you loved Monkey Island, Broken Sword or Sam and Max stop reading and go play this game, trust me you’ll love it! If you didn’t like those or have never heard of them, I will give you the hard sell.

This is a short game (Couple of hours tops) in which you have to save a bunch of tiny robots from destruction. The environment around you is one large puzzle on your creator’s computer desktop. You have to use each robots unique skill to interact and find your way to safety.

This game has fantastic writing and clever puzzles, but there is a learning curve. You will spend a lot of time clicking around the environment looking for things that are interactive and there are no hard and fast rules as to what you can and can’t interactive with. By and large though if you see something there is probably a reason for it being there.

If you aren’t in love after the first few minutes this probably is not for you. Worth every second of the time I played it and it’s free, so you have no excuse not to try it! I just hope there is another Nanobots outing at some point in the future.

Again Nanobots is available at Livelyivy.com

Quick Tips: Use Audbot to talk to the other Nanobots for clues

Who’s this for:
- People who love any “old school” adventure game like Monkey Island
- People who want something that challenges their brain not their reflexes
- People who like independent games

Who’s this not for:
- People who hate 8 bit style graphics
- People who don’t like puzzles or pointing or clicking

Uncharted: Drakes Fortune (PS3)

What is it?

Tomb Raider with a guy. Cover and shoot baddies then climb around some ruins.

Liked
- Interesting story
- Female support isn’t usual useless damsel type
- Covering and shooting works well and is fun
- Climbing big ruins
- It looks pretty

Didn’t like
- Vehicle sections are clumsy
- Enemies are repetitive
- The game pointing out the answer to almost every puzzle
- Scenery that looks like you can grab it


Uncharted is fun but I think I fell victim to journalist hype. Plenty of people talked up the game and while it is good, the post release “hype” had me expecting more. Call it Tomb Raider with a guy and I don’t think you will fall too short of the mark. You shoot things, solve puzzles and climb things. That said Tomb Raider was a lot of fun, and so is this! Just don’t expect anything ground breaking.

Bad guys manage to be everywhere you want to go and you know they are about to storm the area when solid blocks of cover are carefully laid out in front of you. Hiding (or covering if you want to sound more manly) and shooting is fun and feels exciting. It is just a shame there is not a great variety in the bad guys until a lot later in the game. I would have preferred a bigger mixture in looks and behaviours earlier on to keep gun fights from all feeling the same. Why does every guy who has a grenade launcher wear a cowboy hat?

Puzzles are pretty straightforward and the game gives such obvious hints with the camera that you shouldn’t struggle to solve any of them. Turn this, move that then push this button, secret door opens. Behind every “secret” door though is a bunch of baddies, I guess the puzzles are even easy enough for them to figure out!

Vehicle sections are terrible, but are minor hiccups in the overall experience.

It was just worth my £40 I did enjoy it, but now I’m done I don’t really intend to go back. If you want to play a game that feels like an Indiana Jones blockbuster, in both action and story, you won’t go too far wrong with this. Just don’t go in expecting a “Game of the Year”.

Quick Tips: Switch to Run ‘n’ Gun with faster baddies. Always use cover in gun fights

Who’s it for:
- People who like action adventures
- People who like Indiana Jones
- People who liked Tomb Raider
- Fans of Gear of War style cover and shooting

Who’s it not for:
- People who don’t like shooting or climbing
- Social/Family gamer
- People who like multiplayer

Boom Blox (Wii)

What is it?

Throw it! Pull it! Shoot it! Smash it! Physics based game about blocks.

Liked:
- Great use of the Wiimote
- Throwing (think an elaborate fair ground milk bottle throw)
- Pulling (Jenga and then some)
- Shooting (Duck hunt with blocks)
- A lot of fun in multiplayer mode

Didn’t like:
- Some frustrating single player levels that had to be completed to unlock the next
- That you can only share and try custom created levels with friends
- When you have the right solution but the blocks fall wrong


Boom Blox is a lot of fun! It’s now the party game of choice in my house replacing Wario Ware and Wii sports as the best way to have fun on the Wii. Whether it’s pulling, throwing or shooting blocks the controls feel good and responsive but more importantly it all feels fun!

There is a good amount of variety and fun to be had throughout the single player and multiplayer modes. At times though I found some of the game types in adventure mode frustrating and wish I could have skipped them to play more enjoyable ones.

Multiplayer is where I have spent the majority of my time. There’s a good range of game types and while you will probably stick to your favourites it’s nice to have some choice.

The beauty of the game is while there is an element of skill to it, most of the skill is in your head and not in your hands. Spotting a towers weak point is usually more important than your throwing skill. That said the harder you throw the harder the ball will move and weak throws will often just bounce off of the structure. The pulling games are a little fiddly at first but once you get used to them they act as a good change of pace from throwing.

I dabbled with the level creation tools provided (It is hard to not be enticed when the game is constantly giving you new bits to build with). They’re certainly fairly easy to use with a good degree of depth but this is a game I’d rather be playing with than creating for.

Well worth any Wii owner picking up especially if you want a really fun game to play with your friends.

Quick Tips: Remember to use the special blocks. Try sample multiplayer to get a feel for a range of game types. Put the wrist strap on, you don’t want to break your TV.

Who's it for:
- Family/Social gamer
- People who like puzzle games
- People who like creating user content (or Rube Goldberg machines)

Who’s it not for
- People who cant play games with child game aesthetics
- People who get Wii elbow easily

Grand Theft Auto 4

What is it?

Third-person action adventure with guns, cars and an exciting story.

Liked:
- Exciting and varied missions
- Well told story with some tough player decisions
- A city that is arguably the closest to feeling alive than any other game before it
- Intuitive use of in-game mobile phone
- New spoken dialogue if you have to repeat a mission

Didn’t like:
- The game lacks some of the sandbox nature of previous games leaving little to do after the story is over
- Misleading chase missions where targets are invincible until a certain point
- How every feature left me wanting more
- Play dates with needy friends quickly becomes a chore
- How I cant play pool or bowling in the online mode


I liked GTA4; I liked it a lot in fact. Being back in Liberty City reminded me of playing GTA3 and how much fun I had in that world. In many ways 4 still resembles most of my memories of 3.

The main structure is largely unchanged from before with fetch quests, assassinations and chases making up the bulk of your missions. Again you find yourself rubbing shoulders with various criminal low lifes and that while cops will ignore your speeding they don’t like you tapping their bumper. GTA is still all these things but its delivery feels improved.

The controls are slicker, the story feels more involving and the city feels more alive. However the more I found myself asking “Can I…” the more the game said “NO!”

“Can I go into this shop?” … “NO!”
“Can I watch TV with Brucie?” … “NO!”

Not that GTA should say “YES!” to any of these questions or the ones you will find yourself asking, but every edge or limit I hit made me wish there was more. Perhaps that is just the sign of a fun game.

This game was certainly worth my £40, looks great on PS3 and had plenty of game-play to keep me entertained (at least 30 hours) but once I completed the story I had no desire to go back to Liberty City. There just isn’t as much non-story fun to be had as there was in previous games. An online multiplayer mode is also great fun, but I wouldn’t recommend it to people with out real friends to play with. If you are a big fan of previous games, action movies and virtual criminal activity you won’t find many better games this year than GTA4.

Quick Tips: Take your finger off the accelerator and break round corners. Always use cover in gun fights. Make LJ your friend.

Who’s it for:
- Lovers of great action games and movies
- Fans of previous GTA’s core story and mission structure
- People who love to shoot and blow stuff up, but also want an engaging story

Who’s it not for:
- Children under 18
- People who deplore violence and swearing
- People who have no interest in story and just want to mess about (try Saints Row 2)

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3) in under 500 words

What is it?

Third person action game taking place in a war driven future. Shooting and Stealth throughout.

What I liked:
- Changes in game play and pace keep the game exciting to the end
- Emotional involvement and attachment to the characters
- Graphics
- Production values arguably unparalleled by any other game
- Plenty of “WOW!” moments

What I didn’t like:
- Some cut-scenes and exposition can drag at times, but on the whole are very good
- That some of the exciting game play could have been a bit longer
- Staggered "Lord of the rings" ending (that just like LoTR’s would have been better if it had stopped earlier)
- Online mode


I’ve been a part time fan of the series and if you have never had any interest in Metal Gear games or know nothing about the story I wouldn’t recommend this as your time to enter. That said this is the first Metal Gear I felt compelled to actually complete. I no longer felt stifled by complicated controls and while it can be convoluted I actually found the story a compelling reason to play on.

Whilst I enjoy being stealthy from time to time games that feature heavy doses of it often just end up frustrating me. So I was relieved to find this game didn’t punish me too harshly when I was (as expected) spotted. I even found opting to blast my way through a situation, rather than sneak around, was also a rewarding way of playing. Some parts even require you to go all guns blazing!

A couple of cut-scenes dragged on and I often wished I could have been more involved with the action they portrayed. However this game has amazing production values and I genuinely found myself laughing and almost crying at these largely non-interactive moments.

Overall I found Metal Gear Solid 4 to be thoroughly entertaining and well worth my £40, (It took me around 20 hours to complete on normal). I have no interest in the online mode (too slow and tactical for my tastes) but I’m sure it will interest people who like games such as Socom. I would definitely recommend this game to anyone who has had at least a passing interest in the series.

Quick tips: Tranquiliser and the syringe are very useful throughout. The face camo you use will be present in cut-scenes, so take it off before if you don’t want to see it.

Who’s it for:
- Metal Gear Fans
- Stealth Action Fans
- People who want to see what the PS3 is graphically capable of
- People who want a tactical online experience

Who’s it not for:
- Social/Family gamers
- People who can only play in short bursts (ie under 60-30 mins)
- People who hate cut-scenes
- People who aren’t fans of shooting, guns or war
- MGS haters :-p