God of War III

Gamepedia entry.

God of War III is the first in the series that I played. I missed out on the PS2 games because I wasn't really following the video game scene with much interest during that period. By the time GoWIII shipped for the PS3 though the hype was huge. I was impressed with the footage I'd seen and decided I'd give it a try.

On the while I enjoyed my time with it but did not find it to be anything special. Graphically it is very impressive, particularly the opening battle against the Titan. Not being a real beat'em up aficionado I didn't get too bogged down with the combo system. I would say I only scratched the surface of what is possible but that was fine for me.

It didn't offer much replay value as I haven't thought about it since it was done.

Battle of The Backlog

If anyone had actually taken time to read some of the entries on this blog then they will have realised a large part of it is devoted to my video game collection. As one would expect the regular acquisition of new titles (and old) will naturally lead to the creation of a video game backlog. A terrible first-world affliction that haunts so many collectors. Of course I am not immune to this and my own backlog has now become quite substantial.


There are titles spanning the PS2, GameCube, Wii, 3DS, PS3 and Xbox 360. Across home console and handhelds. The backlog list does not discriminate.


For my own purposes I have split my list into two categories; games unfinished and those still unopened. Unfinished games are ones that I feel still have more enjoyment to offer. Such as the two Call Of Duty titles on the list. I've put hours into multiplayer but have not scratched the single player campaign. The other half of the list are those games that for some reason or another I have yet to even start. Many still remain in their shrink wrappings.


Unfinished


Battlefield 3 (Xbox 360)
Braid (PS3)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PS3)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Xbox 360)
Crysis 2 (Xbox 360)
Dark Souls (PS3)
Dead Space (PS3)
Fable II (Xbox 360)
Ghostbusters: The Video Game (PS3)
Mario Kart 7 (3DS)
Mario Kart: Double Dash (GameCube)
ModNation Racers (PS3)
Prince of Persia (PS3)
Pullblox (3DS)
Saints Row: The Third (PS3)
Shift 2: Unleashed (PS3)
Skyrim (Xbox 360)
Stacking (PS3)
Star Wars: Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron II (GameCube)
Super Mario 3D Land (3DS)
Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)
Super Mario Sunshine (GameCube)
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (3DS)
Toy Story 3: The Video Game (PS3)


Not Started


Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts (Xbox 360)
Bioshock 2 (PS3)
Borderlands (Xbox 360)
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West (PS3)
Fallout: New Vegas (PS3)
Luigi's Mansion (GameCube)
Lost Planet 2 (PS3)
Metroid Prime (GameCube)
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (GameCube)
MotorStorm: Pacific Rift (PS3)
Muramasa: The Demon Blade (Wii)
Punch-Out!! (Wii)
Resident Evil (GameCube)
Shank 2 (PS3)
Star Wars: Battlefront II (PS2)
Super Smahs Bros. Melee (GameCube)
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GameCube)
Trine 2 (PS3)
Viva Pinata (Xbox 360)
XIII (GameCube)
Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure (Wii)


The plan as always is that I will return to them at some undetermined time in the future. If all goes to plan that will be when I have turn my attic into a fully equipped entertainment hub. Someday...

Star Wars: Battlefront 2

I guess I went through a little phase of picking up games that I had heard were good but have never played. Star Wars: Battlefront 2 is another such game. It looks like a lot of fun from videos and being set in the Star Wars universe also helps. I haven't played it yet but if Sony ever patches the PS3 to make them backward compatible with the PS2 I certainly will. In the mean time it looks good in the collection as it is in mint condition.

WipeOut 2097

Wipeout 2097 had me completely fooled. I was totally convinced that it was released for the PS2 but it was in fact a PSOne title. I was searching for the original Wipeout on the PSOne but kept coming across listings for 2097 on the PS1. There must have been a fair number of years between 2097 and Wipeout Fusion on the PS2. Thinking about it more know I can't remember a whole lot about the game itself. Did I like it? Of course, it is a Wipeout game after all. I wonder what tracks originated in this version that have made it into Wipeout Pulse / Pure / HD?

Looking at the images on the back of the box it looks as though the developers, Psygnosis, have improved the graphics and I do remember it having some notable music on the soundtrack. I think Firestarter from the Prodigy is included. Not that I'm a fan of the band but it does get the adrenaline flowing when racing along in the Venom speed class. So not much to say about Wipeout 2097 other than its a good game and one that certainly improves my collection. There are still a couple of games from the series that I have yet to get, the original and Wipeout Fusion. The latter was most definitely a PS2 release.

The Simpson's: Hit & Run

A short note on a small addition to my resurrected game collection that I picked up in GameStop in St. Stephen's Green shopping centre. I found The Simpson's: Hit & Run in perfect condition for EUR3.99. It is memorable to me for two reasons. Firstly, it was a Christmas present from my then girlfriend (now wife) back in December 2003. Secondly, it was one of the final games that I got for the PS2. After that the only games I picked up were the new Pro Evolution Soccer games and GTA: San Andreas nearly two years after it's release. It is hard to believe that it was seven years ago, I just had to check wikipedia there to be sure. When the game was released it was accompanied by a very good TV advertisement, which must have been the reason I got it as a present. I remember commenting on it to my wife, saying that it would be cool to run and drive around Springfield. As for the game itself, I found it to be enjoyable but also rather difficult. The later driving missions with tough time limits were particularly frustrating and the camera system was not the friendliest either. That being said it is a game I'd like to revisit to see how it has held up.

Note: It is the Platinum re-issue that I bought, not the original release version.

Best Pro Evo bargain ever?

While trying to rebuild my gaming collection it is important that I acquire the games at a good price. I don't want to be getting games for the Mega Drive for example at prices equal to current PS3 games. So far this has proven to be the case, apart from GameCube (GC) games which appear to have held their value pretty well. It must be due to the backwards compatibility of the Wii that is keeping the GC games relevant. 

So speaking of value for money, how about this - four Pro Evolution Soccer games for the PS2 for €3.96. Total. The games were:

• Pro Evolution Soccer
• Pro Evolution Soccer 3
• Pro Evolution Soccer 4
• Pro Evolution Soccer 5

Now if you look through other posts on this blog you will see that Pro Evolution Soccer is my favourite ever series of games. The remarkable thing about the four games here is that each one gets progressively better, not something that you can always say about sequels. 


I remember being amazed by the first Pro Evo game. I had been playing the International Superstar Soccer series up to that point and they were the pinnacle of console football games. At least they were until Pro Evo came on the scene. I would hate to add up the number of hours I've spent on the Master League in total between these four games. I'm pretty sure it would be a scary figure. Included in these four games is probably the best Pro Evo game of the lot, Pro Evolution Soccer 5.


It was so good I actually owned it twice. One copy for the PS2 and another on the PC. I used the PC version to play online, the first game that I put any time into online multi-player. I used the PS2 version far more though for my fix of Master League action. PES 5 has proven to be an extremely difficult game for the developers to improve upon as subsequent games on the new generation of consoles have proven. Perhaps they've finally cracked it with the forthcoming PES 2011.

Writing lists and setting rules

Now that I had decided to rebuild my collection of video games I had to actually try and remember what games I did own at one point or another. This is not as easy as you might think. The best place to start as in most cases is the beginning. I did own a C64 but for one reason or another I have decided not to pursue this part of my collection. So that brings me onto the Sega Mega Drive, probably the best console I've ever owned but that could be the nostalgia talking.

I know that towards the end of the Mega Drive era I had amassed quite a collection of games but I couldn't remember them all when I sat down to write a list. Sure, I remembered the classics that I owned like Sonic the Hedgehog, Streets of Rage II and NBA Jam. Other games that sprung to mind were Desert Strike, Mortal Kombat 2, Road Rash and Flashback. That made seven games, but surely I had more than that. A little more thought and I remembered some more but I resorted to Wikipedia to look up popular Mega Drive games to ignite a spark of recognition. Games that I found that had to be added to my list were Ballz, Micro Machines, Tazmania and several others.

The situation was the same with my PSOne collection of titles. I knew a couple, like International Superstar Soccer Pro and Wipeout but it took some looking to figure out what else I had. I didn't have as much of a problem when it came to the PS2 as I was still playing that machine up until a few years ago. Still one thing did strike me about my PS2 collection - it was very small. That was my primary console for five years and yet I rarely seemed to buy any games for it, apart from my annual fix of Pro Evolution Soccer. The Nintendo Game Boy is another console that I've owned in my time but that part of my collection is on the back burner. It is not forgotten but it will have to wait. There are also a handful of PS3 games that I've traded in that I now want back, at the right price of course.

Price. A very important consideration in all this. In order to control the cost, rules were needed. Do I buy only games that I've owned? What about games I loved but didn't own, that I had gotten a loan of. Ah yes, loaning games in school, great way to play plenty of games without paying for them. How about games that I might have owned or rented, like Aladdin. What about games that I could come across that would be great in any collection but I've never played? Finally, it turns out that although the majority of retro games are very cheap, some are surprisingly expensive. Raise your hands (or clenched fist) Streets of Rage 3!

In the end there is no set rule really. If I think it would be good for the collection and at a reasonable price, preferably low, I will try to get it. So when I'm finished it won't be my original collection per se but it will be quite a collection.