360, my FPS machine

Since I bought the Xbox 360 back in late summer last year it has not gotten as much use as I expected. Some of that is down to life getting in the way but a lot of it has been the fact that I continue to buy the majority of my games on the PS3. Even multi-platform games. The exception though are first-person shooters. 


The 360 has become my console of choice for any new shooters, or old ones that I've missed. To me there is a better feel from the 360 controller when playing a shooter. Plus if it is multiplayer then having Xbox Live is a bonus. My backlog of shooters thus far reads:

• Battlefield 3
• Borderlands
• Crysis 2
• Rage
• Skyrim

I realise Skyrim is not a first-person shooter by definition but it is a game played from the first-perspective and the word on the PS3 version was that it was very buggy. I have plenty of shooting to get around to whenever I get the chance.

Assassin's Creed, my thoughts

A quick note to link to my Gamepedia entry again. 


I have actually owned Assassin's Creed on three occasions and I don't even like the game. Allow me to explain...


I bought it first, cheaply, on eBay for the Xbox 360 and played it briefly. I was so bored inside the opening hour that I never played it again. I managed to trade it in for the same price I paid for it. Skip forward 18 months and I became a huge AC fan after playing, loving and unlocking the Platinum Trophy in ACII on the PS3. 


So after ACII came Brotherhood, which I also loved. So I decided that to complete the set I would need to own the first AC game. So I got it cheaply enough but could only find the Platinum version unfortunately. So that is the second time I have owned the game. And the third? It came as a bonus downloadable game with AC: Revelations last year. 


Still haven't put more than an hour into the original though.

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...

A week of great bargains

The past week or so has seen me snap up a number of great bargains for my video game collection. This is thanks mainly to the sale on Gamestop.ie where they were selling a game for EUR1 at noon each day for 5 days. During that time I bought Lost Planet 2 [PS3], Punch-Out [Wii], High-School Musical 2 [DS] and Mass Effect 2 [Xbox 360]. All this for EUR12 including shipping. To top it all off I managed to get Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 [PS3] for EUR10.99 in HMV. Not bad.

The plan is to off load the DS game at Christmas as a present and in January when Mass Effect 2 is released for the PS3 I will trade in my Xbox 360 copy. I am looking forward to trying out the Marvel game, being a fan of superheroes it seems right up my street. Plus I've read that it is a relatively easy Platinum. As for Lost Planet 2 and Punch-Out they might just remain in the shrink-wrap and bolster my collection.

Is Lost Planet 2 worth €1?

GameStop here in Ireland have been running a sale for the last couple of days. Yesterday they had Lost Planet 2 for the Xbox 360 for €1 and today it was on sale for the PS3. The game has had pretty mixed reviews from what I've seen. Praised for it's graphics but slated for the way it is set up almost exclusively has a multiplayer game. I played the demo a few months ago and wasn't that impressed. 

Still €1 is a crazy price for a PS3 title so I ordered myself a copy. Good or bad I'm pretty sure I'll make my money back if I trade it in.

Worms

The second of those games acquired in a swap with a friend. I've no idea what games I swapped with him but I think one of them might have been Command and Conquer. Now unlike many of the games I've posted about recently I can remember lots about Worms. It is one of those games that just keeps on appearing generation, after generation. As well as the PSOne version I have owned it on the Xbox 360 and now I own it on the iPhone. But this version, for me, is the definitive one. 

Many, many Saturday evenings were lost to this game in fantastic three player battles between myself, my sister and a good friend. We all had specific teams and every single worm in the game had their own name. I remember the Villains team, the Heroes team, the Goddess team etc... Over time we all grew attached to those worms and after months of playing we had all built up some very impressive statistics for these worms. Playing Worms since on other systems has never quite recaptured what was so special about those days.

This version is in excellent condition and comes in that silly dual-DVD case. I never understood the purpose of those cases.

PES, filling in the blanks

I mentioned in a previous post that I got a super bargain of Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) 1, 3, 4 and 5 for only €3.96. Maths fans will notice that that left me with a couple of blanks to fill - PES 2 and PES 6. I found a copy of PES 2 in Game on Dawson Street for a couple of Euro and it is in pretty good condition. Nothing much to say about that other than it was yet another great game in the series and an excellent example of Konami improving upon the previous game. On the other hand there is plenty to say about PES 6.

PES 6 is unique because it was the first PES game that I owned in this current console generation, the Xbox 360. I remember popping down to Xtra-Vision on Stephen's Day 2006 to grab a copy, having failed to receive it as a Christmas present. After the intial disappointment that the graphics didn't look light years ahead of PES 5 on the PS2 I began to really enjoy PES 6. It was the first PES game that I had to play using the analogue stick on a controller. With all the PS2 versions I'd used the d-pad but as anyone who has played a 360 will know the d-pad leaves a lot to be desired. It took me a while to get used to the analogue stick but now I couldn't use anything else.

The best thing for me about PES 6 was the online component. I had played PES 5 online with the PC version and while that was pretty good it doesn't compare favourably to the experience of PES 6 on Xbox Live. Simply because it was on Xbox Live the match-making was so much better than the ad-hoc implementation of the PC version. Over the course of the next year I played in hundreds of online matches and by the time I quit I was in the top 2% on the Xbox Live leader boards. Quite an achievement I'd say. I think I signed off with a 34 match unbeaten run. Looking back on the series as a whole I think PES 6 provided me with the most fun, due to the online play. Later versions of PES have improved the offline modes drastically but none have come close to providing an equal online experience.

So how does this all fit into my collection? About two years ago I traded in the 360 and all the games to get a PS3 which left me needing to buy PES 6 again for my collection. I felt there was no need to get the 360 version of the game as I'd have nothing to play it on, if I felt the urge. I suppose I could get another 360 but I can only imagine my wife's reaction to that. In the end I picked up a copy of PES 6 for €0.99 on the PS2 in GameStop. Problem solved, at a bargain basement price.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 - [PS3] Review

This review is written by a self-confessed PES fanboy but I guarantee I can be unbiased. I just want to remind you, the reader, that this is a review of the PS3 version so some criticisms may not apply to the PC and Xbox 360 version, i.e. online issues. PES 2009 strikes me as the most important release in the entire series, as with last years entry Konami stood by and let EA Sports steal their crown as the most impressive and progressive football game around. Has Konami learnt from last year and can they regain their crown so spectularly lost?

As a true Pro Evo fan it pains me to say that they have unequivocally failed to live up the challenge and have equally failed to provide an online experience equal to that offered by PES 6. Let us get the basics out of the way first. The graphics are functional but not what one expects from a current-gen console. Last generation player models and animation sets are not good enough, although player faces are impressive. There are some nice weather effects on show but overall the game still has the look of a PS2 title. The audio too is most unimpressive. They have made some strides in improving the crowd atmosphere with some real crowd chants. There is also support for custom soundtracks and importing of real crowd chants. However, and this will come as no surprise to fans of the series - the commentary is terrible. Why Konami can't see this and either hire new writers or spend money on better development is a mystery.

People have made a big issue of the fact that PES has lost a number of licences since the last game but for me that is a non-issue. Sure it is nice to play with teams with real kits and names but does it affect gameplay? No, not a bit. If it does bother you there are many option files available for download for both the PS3 and Xbox 360. In order to create these Konami has spent a lot of time developing the editing options in the game. It now boasts a pretty expansive editing suite were people with the time and patience will be able to spend many a happy hour creating their favourite players and teams.

Another area Konami has spent some time is the Become A Legend (BAL) mode. Viewed as a response to FIFA's Be A Pro mode, BAL actually predates the FIFA mode by a couple of years having been available in the Japanese version. BAL is a very substantial addition and very addictive and enjoyable too. Create your player, play in a trial game and sign a professional contract. Your goals are to break into the first Xl and keep your place. Then you need to worry about getting a move to a bigger club and playing for your country and finally becoming a legend in the game. It has an addictive quality as you feel you want to play 'just one more game' to improve your stats. Also the feeling of scoring a goal or getting an assist is greatly increased in this mode as you feel that you made the right moves to get into that position. You'll be punching the air after your first goal.

There are some niggles with this mode, mainly poor team-mate AI. Watch in tears of frustration as 99 times out of a 100 your winger will fail to deliver a ball into the box or a defender will hoof the ball for a throw in rather than play the simple ball to midfield. If you have patience though you can overlook these issues and you will get a lot out of this mode. The option to take your 'legend' online and play with up to three other 'legends' works very well, especially with some like minded players. Finishing off a free flowing attacking move with friends online is a sweet feeling.

The rest of the game however has been starved of such attention from Konami. Master League a staple of the series has been virutally untouched. Transfer negoiations have been speeded up. Really? Big deal. The Champions League is also a new addition but why is is not integrated into Master League? It seems the obvious thing to do really but that isn't Konami's style. At this point it must be said that despite the lack of innovation the actual gameplay is still perfectly fine. It plays just like every other entry in the series and is slightly slower in pace than last year. The controls are also nice and tight. There is a huge number of tricks that can be pulled off if you are willing to invest the time to learn them, adding a nice layer of depth to the game.

Now I have to address the online component of the game. I cannot find one justification for having to use the Konami ID system. Not only do you need a Konami ID but you also need a Game ID. It adds an extra layer of complexity when all you want to do is play online. The whole thing would not be so bad if the system worked smoothly but it does not. I regularly have to try at least five times to log onto the system. Once onine the lobby and match-room system is very badly designed and confusing.

How does it play online? Well I have found it to be fairly free of lag but not as smooth as it was for PES 6, which is unforgiveable. The AI on computer controlled team-mates online appears to be hugely compromised. The default difficulty when online is beginner and as a result online games are a goal fest. You will regularly watch in horror as your AI controlled defenders stand by and wave attackers through on goal. It makes for a very annoying and unrealistic game experience.

In summary the game plays very well offline and BAL is a very welcome addition. However the many online issues, a lack of innovation and a feeling that this is only a polished last-gen game means Pro Evo 2009 is found wanting in the face of fierce competition. Unless next years game is called Pro Revolution I for one will be giving it a miss.

Graphics
There are some small graphical improvements over previous games but this is not how a current-gen football game should look. Player models haven't progressed from the PS2 era and animations are getting stale.

Sound
The comentary is as woeful as ever and utterly fails in comparision with FIFA. Some improvement in crowd atmosphere, a nice touch is hearing individual shouts. The soundtrack is improved from last year and support for custom soundtracks is a plus.

Controls
Controls are still nice and responsive. There is a good range of tricks to pull off and not easy enough to feel like a cheat. Passing has been improved, especially the manual pass option.

Verdict
As a long, long time PES fan it hurts me to say that this is not the game I wanted. PES was supposed to come back with a bang but rather it has returned with a few minor improvements to core gameplay. This is simply not enough to recover from years of neglect. I simply cannot recommend this game when FIFA '09 is the competitor. For diehards only.

Why I'm not giving up on PES

There has been a lot of talk over the last two years and these past months in particular that Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) crown is slipping and the FIFA franchise is poised to overtake PES as the finest football game around. Of course there has always been a large group of people who preferred FIFA’s style of gameplay but I think it is fair to say that PES has always been the favoured game among the gaming media and football purists. PES has never matched FIFA for presentation or licensed content but for as long as I remember it has always been the better game to play.

My complaint about FIFA and one shared by many is that I never felt that I was in total control of the player, as though certain moves were being performed by the AI. Another thing I did not like was that in past games there were tricks mapped to a certain button, which reduces the skill involved in playing the game and thus reduces the feeling of accomplishment. I’m not writing this article as an attack on FIFA (in fact have owned previous FIFA games) rather it is about what appeals to me about PES and why I’m not giving up on it just yet. During this article I will be discussing both ISS and PES as I consider them to be the same series of games as one evolved from and replaced the other.

I first encountered the game on the Super Nintendo in 1994 as International Superstar Soccer. The game was simply light years ahead of the competition in my opinion. The graphics for the time were simply stunning with large well animated player sprites that were made to resemble the stars at the time. I remember Columbia was my team of choice back then and I had Carlos Valderama patrolling the midfield. Of course he had a fictitious name but he had the famous hairstyle so there was no doubting who he was. In the game Columbia had a player called Alvarez who was very speedy and I used to run him into the ground but he would always get me a couple of goals. My friend and I used to play each other everyday on the game and it became a running joke how often I would exhaust that player but never substitute him. PES only got better with the release of International Superstar Soccer Deluxe. As we have now come to expect the sequel was more of an evolution than a revolution but it did have plenty of tweaks to make the game superior in every way. My friend and I could now play co-operatively (rarely used), had better graphics, more commentary and if I remember rightly the ability to hack down goalkeepers. Pretty sure I collected a lot of red cards that way.

ISS Deluxe kept the two of us going for a long time, until my friend upgraded to the N64 and bought International Superstar Soccer 98. This is the game in the entire series that I remember least fondly. It mainly had to do with the N64 controller. I just could not get used to controlling players with the analogue stick, something which is second nature now but certainly not back then. The graphics were vastly superior to the SNES version but my inability to score goals in the game (thus losing regularly) meant I never really loved this release. Around this time I myself upgraded to the PSOne and there was some competition on that console in the football genre. I bought Actua Soccer that I still maintain was an excellent football game. Playing five strikers with S. Korea was the best possible tactic in that game and it had great commentary from Barry Davies (it is possible time has skewed my memories). Soon enough ISS came to the PSOne as International Superstar Soccer Pro Evolution (ISS Pro Evo), a bit of an unwieldy name really. This game came as a major shock to me. The style of gameplay changed quite dramatically. Whereas previous games had a fast attacking flow to them ISS Pro Evo was slowed down considerably and relied much more on accurate passing than running with the ball. It was especially difficult playing this version and the N64 version around the same time as they were so different. The graphics on ISS Pro Evo were impressive but very different. The players looked more realistic and had very good animation. I have to be honest and say that I don’t remember a lot about this version apart from the fact that I used Norway all the time and relied on their striker Flink to get the goals. He always did, including a magnificent bicycle-kick from outside the area. It is funny the little unimportant things that you remember.

During all this time I had been playing some of the FIFA games. While writing this I thought that I only owned FIFA ’95 but I actually had FIFA ’99. I remember because of the Fatboy Slim song used on the title screen. Even then the presentation of that game was far superior to PES, however after playing so much PES I could never get used to the camera angles used by EA in their game. The isometric camera angle that worked so well in FIFA ’95 no longer felt comfortable and the snazzy new cameras employed on the PSOne versions never felt right either.

It is now 2001 and once again I upgraded, this time to the PS2. Pro Evolution Soccer, the first in the true PESPES 2 quickly followed and then PES 3. I always thought it was strange that Pierluigi Collina appeared on the cover (the first real life person to do so) but didn’t appear in the game itself. PES 4 came along and if I remember correctly this game came with a large number of licences and brought La Liga, Serie A and the Dutch Eredivise to the game. I’m not sure which year the Master League was introduced but it was a masterstroke. No longer did we just have to play exhibition matches or boring leagues with international teams we could now have full seasons with player transfers. Probably something FIFA had been doing for years but for a PES fan it was all new and welcome. I think it was around PES 4 that I found Mathieu. Simply put, he is the best player to ever appear in a PESPES circles. series is released and it takes the football game to a whole new level. game. He was always listed as a SB (why do they not call them fullbacks?) but he had amazing stats for shooting, dribbling, passing and power. Ideal for an attacking midfielder and that is where he played forever more. Every year I would search him out and put him in the team. Every year he would be the best player in the team. The sheer number of screamers he scored was amazing, just give the ball to the guy 25 yards out and shoot. The real life player never had the same impact but I did look at this wikipedia page before and it did mention his fame within

When PES 5 came around it brought with it a totally new gameplay innovation - online play. I never had my PS2 online but I did buy the PC version of PES 5 just to play it online. It worked really well and was my first experience of online gaming. Skip forward to 2006 and again I’ve upgraded consoles to the Xbox 360 this time. The first title I buy? PES 6 of course. This title got a bit of criticism for not being a massive leap over previous generations games in terms of graphics or innovation. I always felt this was unfair as the Xbox 360Xbox Live I had an easy way to play it online. I would say that playing PES 6 online is where I had the most fun with this game. I still remember my first few games on Live, the score lines weren’t kind to say the least. Still I got my 100 online wins achievement in around 150 matches which is pretty good. I would consider that my favourite achievement from my 360 days. The game wasn�t without its flaws though - those online cheaters made me so mad. Another of the things that did annoy me was the all conquering Inter Milan team with Ibrahimovic and Adriano up front. Fun to play as but not against. That is where the uninterrupted run of success finished I’m afraid. was still new and Konami did well to get a game out. I did not care that the game did not have a next generation shine, I just cared about the gameplay. It was exceptional in my opinion. Not only that but now with access to

The next game was PES 2008, billed as the first true next generation PES. I want to get one thing straight, this is not the terrible game that it is made out to be. The gameplay is still as good as other PES games there can be no argument about that. What is wrong is that the online component of the game was entirely broken. In the year that I had the game I never once got to play it online. I do not understand how a company of Konami’s size and reputation can release such a substandard product. I traded in PES 6 when purchasing the 2008 edition, an action I very soon came to regret. On top of that Mathieu was no longer the same player in Master League.

After the disappointment of PES 2008 we are now in a situation were a lot of PES fans tired of incremental updates, poor licence deals and shoddy online play have jumped ship and are now buying FIFA. That is perfectly fine, I do agree that Konami need a big wake up call and the loss of a large percentage of the fan base will make them take notice. Konami have been making all the right comments in the lead up to PES 2009EA Sports Euro 2008. I have heard good things about FIFA ’09, however I did not enjoy the demo. FIFA now seems to take the more realistic simulation approach, which is funny as I used to consider it more of an arcade style game. Still after recent disappointments I am still excited about PES 2009 and am willing to give Konami another chance. I think they deserve it for all their past good work. - better graphics, better AI, better physics etc... The problem is we have heard all these promises before and yet they never seem to come to fruition. In the meantime FIFA has become a real alternative. I really enjoyed the few games I played of

As you can probably tell my current total belief in PES basically stems from the good times I have had in the past. It is the kind of brand loyalty that companies would kill for. This is not the only reason though, I have seen enough about the new game to think that they have got it right this time. The new Become A Legendmode looks really interesting and contrary to popular belief this mode predates EA’s Be A Pro feature having been in previous Japanese Winning Eleven titles. This is the single most exciting feature to come to PES in many years and I cannot wait to try it out. The introduction of the Champions League mode is also a nice bonus. When you consider in the past that EA have released a whole game based around the Champions League this is quite a big bonus to be included as an extra mode. The Legends mode where you take your created player online to play with friends will be great fun, provided of course that the online code works this time. Another big improvement coming this year is the totally revamped edit mode. Players are free to edit teams and players in nearly every way, an option that has been missing since the PS2 days. The edit mode will be particularly useful on the PS3 since the system is open and you can plug in a USB key with an edited option file. Unfortunately, Xbox 360 users will most likely have to edit everything manually. Finally, I was impressed by the demo and can only expect the final retail release to be even more polished.

There is a lot riding on this next release of PES. If this game fails to deliver again I do not know where the series goes from there. PES 2009 will be the game that should have been delivered last year. This puts Konami a year behind FIFA and for the first time puts them in the position where they have to play catch up. Will next years release be a reinvention? How do they go about that? I do not know the answers but I am excited to find out.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 - nearly here

I find myself for the first time since 2001 without a copy of Pro Evolution Soccer to play. As anyone who knows me will know PES is and probably always will be my favourite series of video games. When I traded in my Xbox 360 a few months ago for the PS3 (still happy I did) I also traded my copy of PES 2008. It may not have been the best game in the series but I still really enjoyed playing it. I didn't think I'd miss not having a PES game to play but I really do.

I have refused to buy any games on the PS3 that I've owned on the Xbox 360 previously so no COD4, GTA IV or PES 2008. Although I hear that PES 2008 on the PS3 is a very bad port anyway. So with that rule in place I've been fairly restricted to what games I've bought or played on the PS3. I've bought and traded on the launch games and now I'm at a loose end. There is nothing really worth playing until October 17th (I think) when PES 2009 launches. It can't come soon enough really.

I know the 2008 version did a lot of damage to the brand, I for one was never able to get a game going online. However, I have every faith in the developers that they will get the series back on track with this one. For me the most anticipated new feature is going to be the Become A Legend mode, where you control just one player throughout their career. I can't wait to give it a go. I think I'll pick an offensive midfielder first as I think it will keep me involved in the match whereas a player on the wings might get a bit isolated. I also hope they have fixed the online component as it has been far too long since I was beating all comers online.

Just over month to go.

And then comes Little Big Planet...

Assault Heroes 2 - Review

I was given the chance to review the XBLA title Assault Heroes 2 by the ExiledGamers website on behalf of Vivendi. It wasn't exactly a game I was excited about but I had played the original and I thought it would be interesting to write a review. Plus I got the game free, pretty cool.

I generally find this type of game quite difficult but Assault Heroes 2 manages to set the difficulty level just the right side of challenging. The enemies come at you in huge numbers so you'll soon find yourself trying to dodge enemy fire from all directions. Thankfully, the controls are nice and responsive so you'll only have your own reflexes to blame for any failure. The bosses will also provide a real challenge but not so much that it will put you off the game as I found with Ikaruga. Not only does the game provide a challenge but it also brings some much needed spectacle to this type of game. Just look out for the alien 'whale' enemy on the first level that jumps out impressively at the screen before spitting out a hoard of enemies to take you down.

The game also provides some variation in the gameplay. You won't always find yourself driving your tank as sometimes you might be forced to take a narrow path so you'll just have to get out and hike it. The times you are on foot make for some frantic gameplay as you desperately dive out of harms way to avoid being hit all the while letting rip with impossibly big guns as you search for the next vehicle to board. You aren't restricted to just your normal vehicle either, with attack helicopters and heavy-duty tanks on offer. Assault Heroes 2 has one major ace up its sleeve, the inclusion of a multiplayer mode for either local or online co-op play. While making the game slightly easier because of the extra firepower available it also brings cool co-op attack moves to the party. Co-op play also adds a little depth and strategy to proceedings as you can keep playing as you would in single player or perhaps play a more cooperative game with your partner.

For all of the games pluses, I had the same problem with Assault Heroes 2 as I have had with all other scrolling shooters - repetitiveness. It is impossible to avoid really as you basically travel in one direction through each level with your finger on the trigger. The game goes to some lengths to try to offer some variety in with a glut of distinctive backdrops and imaginative upgrades to your armoury. It is unlikely to be enough to keep me coming back to the game for a prolonged period of time but it does more to keep you interested than many similar games.

Graphics

I played the original Assault Heroes and the sequel definitely has the upper hand in the graphics department. It looks sharper, has some very good lighting effects and a lot going on onscreen without any slowdown. It is cool that you can destroy nearly everything on screen and burning down trees looks so cool. The viewpoint is at just the right pitch so you can see exactly what is going on. All in all this is just what you need from an XBLA title in terms of graphics which aren't groundbreaking but a nice improvement on shooters from yesteryear.

Sound
I would describe the sound design as solid rather than spectacular. There is a good retro score and lively sound effects so nothing to complain about here. I must give a special shout out to the foot soldiers that charge towards you, all yelling like some kind of demented group of chickens. Brings a smile to my face every time.

Controls
The controls are perfectly implemented in the game. The left stick is for movement and the right stick is used to aim and fire. The trigger buttons are for selecting weapons and firing bombs. All simple enough and nice and responsive.

Verdict
This isn't a ground breaking game - shoot anything that moves (and some things that don't), defeat the boss and repeat. The repetitive nature of the game is a real problem for me and after a few hours of play I began to think that the game had given me all it had to offer. Having said that it does provide some classic arcade action with a nice HD shine for a budget price and you can't say fairer than that. If that doesn't convince you that it is worth a few hours of your time then download the trial and decide for yourself.

Time to retire Halo 3

So the time has come I think to retire Halo 3 from my collection. I have played it about three times since I bought COD4 and each time I was playing it I was thinking that I'd rather be playing Halo 3.

Right from the start it underwhelmed me with its average single player campaign. I actually did complete it but I never got to see the ending, I had to leave right at that moment. It was annoying but I was never inspired to go back and beat the last level again. If I do I can always visit youtube.

The multiplayer was good but I eventually go fed up of being thrashed by people who clearly spend far too much time playing the game. That and the fact that a very large percentage of people seem to play the game just to thrash talk.

I never got around to making my own map with The Forge or using the replay and save features either. It's a shame I suppose as they sound like fantastic ideas and will hopefully be in future games on the 360.

Anyway, I'll be trading it in next week I think when getting GTA IV.

A Wii for me

I got a Nintendo Wii over the past weekend for my birthday. I heard on Friday that Tesco were doing a good deal on games consoles, offering 25% back on consoles. A good deal, no doubt. The package came with Wii Sports (as do all Wii consoles), Wii Play, an extra controller and a copy of Rayman Raving Rabbids.

It was a birthday present for Sunday but we didn't manage to hold out on opening it till then. We broke it open though on Saturday night and had some great fun creating our Mii's. For those who don't know what a Mii is, it is a graphical representation of the gamer, i.e. an avatar. It offers a great variety of control over the look of your Mii. I think mine actually bears a good resemblance to myself. I like the way that they appear in the games like Wii Sports and Wii Play, it gives the games a real personal touch.

As for the games themselves I'm quite happy. Now there is nothing here that totally blew me away like Gears of War did when I first booted up the Xbox 360. Having said that it is common knowledge that the Wii is a less powerful machine and comparisons are unfair. It offers a totally different gameplay experience. You just have to have your first round of bowling done on Wii Sports to realise just how different this machine is to the Xbox. I've had great fun with all the sports in Wii Sports. I think the bowling is my favourite but then tennis is really good too. It is a shame thought that the game is not wifi enabled. Still we can't have everything.

Wii Play is a little simplistic for my tastes but some of the mini games offer up some fun, such as the cow racing and the duck hunt style shooter. It does also offer great value for money as you basically get the game free with the remote. The third game Rayman was surprisingly good. It boils down to a bunch of mini games but there is a huge variety of them and the majority are good fun. It really does put the remote to good use as there is such variety in the moves you need to pull off to complete the games. It is also quite addictive to boot.

I like a bit of retro gaming and I was looking forward to testing out the Wii's Virtual Console. It is just like XBLA but it specialises in old consoles games. I downloaded Super Mario Bros. 3 from the site, it is the original NES version from 1990 and not the updated version from Super Mario All Stars. The game does look dated but that is to be expected. What is unexpected is that I am remembering all the secrets of the game. It feels like I was just playing this game yesterday for the first time. It really is one of the very best platform games ever developed and I will download Super Mario World later.

These are just my first impressions of the console and thus far I'm happy. It is a more simplistic machine than the Xbox, no more so than in it's online implementation. Still simple isn't necessarily a bad thing in gaming. I think the Wii is a good complement to the Xbox and I can see why so many people have room for both. I look forward to my first full proper game on the system, which at this point is looking like it will be Super Paper Mario.

Photography course review

XBox101

So this week saw the end of my Digital Beginners photography class. I really enjoyed the class and the eight weeks really flew by. The course covered indoor shooting, portraits, macro shots, night shooting and the rule of thirds.

It was all very interesting and I believe that it has improved my photography skills. I had intended to continue on and do the follow on course, the improvers course. However, it turns out that my Canon Ixus 75 isn't quite powerful enough for the course. I need to have more manual control over the aperture, shutter speed and exposure. Basically this means I need to invest in an dSLR.

My original idea was to do the first two courses before getting a dSLR. I wanted to do the course first so that I could be sure I really was interested in photography before making any further investment in hardware. I guess I will get the dSLR sooner than I thought. I have my eye on the Canon EOS 400D which is supposedly the camera of choice for the amateur. I know that this camera is soon to be replaced by the 450D model but that model will have a hefty price tag. My opinion is that if the 400D is the right model now just because it will be super-ceded next month doesn't make it a bad camera. Plus the price should drop further as soon as the new model comes out.

We finished off the course with a small photo competition. I didn't win but I got a three pictures into the final selection, which I am happy about. One of those pictures I've posed before, the macro shot of M&Ms. The one thing I didn't like about the course was the constant beating of the drum about Google's Picasa program. I agree it is a great piece of software but hearing just how great every week began to grate on me quickly. Still I can't wait for the Mac OSX version to be released.

The picture above is just something I threw together this morning. I saw the technique during the course and I really liked it. I turned the four shots black and white in Picasa and darkened the shadows and raised the highlights. Something that I wouldn't have done eight weeks ago.

Survivalist

In a development of no interest to anyone but myself I managed to get the survivalist challenge completed on a game of COD4 earlier. I survived the whole match without dying once and managed to rack up 13 kills. I was just camping out in a room that I found that only has one entrance so I didn't have to watch my back. I know it is considered to be camping playing in this style and it is frowned upon but I didn't like it. I much prefer running and gunning and usually end up with a neutral kill ratio.

Anyway, it was good to complete the challenge and a whole host of other challenges to as a result such as a 5:1 kills to death ratio challenge. It'll be back to running and gunning in the next match.

Paradise or not...

The game Burnout Paradise was released on the Xbox 360 last week and I am very tempted to pick it up. I find this quite strange because usually I am not a fan of racing games. In fact the last racer that I really enjoyed was Mario Kart on the N64 and before that on the SNES. Actually, I tell a lie as the DS version of Mario Kart is pretty nifty too. So what is it about this racer that has me thinking I should buy it?

It is the new style of play that it offers. An open world city with over 250 miles of road to drive around, coupled with multiple game modes. The best of which is a mode where you will be chased by a number of cars and the longer you survive the more points you score. That to me sounds like it would be an amazing game to take online on Live. I have played the demo but was left slightly disappointed as the demo only offered a tiny portion of the city with most of the events locked. It was a good taster but not enough to say whether the game would be worth it or not. In the end I doubt I will get it as I still have COD4 and Pro Evo to occupy my gaming time. If I get too tempted I'll try to remember that someone pointed out that many of the fun features in this game are likely to be present in some for in GTA IV, a game that I will purchase.

Missing Mass Effect

It has been a little over three weeks since I finished Mass Effect on the Xbox 360. I got the game a month before Christmas. The reason I got it then was I expected to get at least a couple of games over Christmas and I knew ME would be the type of game that would require dedication and time. The timing worked well as I got totally immersed in Bioware's universe and it was the only game in the 360's drive from the day I bought it until it was completed. According to the game's save file it took 35.5 hours to complete. When I say completed, I mean I have gone once through the game as a virtuous character. I do intend to play it through as a renegade, which should make for some interesting changes.

I took the long way around and did all the side quests I could find before continuing on the main story line. Bar some repetition with the look of many planets and the some missions I thoroughly enjoyed the game. So when I finished it I expected to jump back into it to continue on building up my character and make the opposite choices to those that I had made previously. This didn't happen though as a little game called Call of Duty 4 came into my possession. The point of all this is that I am looking around for mention downloadable content (DLC) for the game and coming up empty handed.

An article on IGN guessed that it would be very soon but I'd like to find a concrete date and some details. I hope that they make the DLC worthwhile with new missions and planets to explore. Also more time aboard the Citadel would be welcome but I do not expect them to further the main storyline. This would be risky as some people will not buy any extra content and will therefore miss out on the evolving storyline. These people would cry foul and rightly so. If the DLC gets announced and all that is there is new weapon and armour upgrades or other superficial stuff I will be extremely disappointed. I doubt that will happen though. After the team put so much work into creating such a large and complex universe why would they want to bring down the name with sub-par DLC. I expect we will have to pay for the pleasure but as long as the content is there that will be fine by me. Much like the issue over the iPod Touch 1.1.3 firmware upgrade.

The release of any DLC will renew my interest in playing the game but it will also allow me the opportunity to earn some of the Achievements I missed first time around. I know Achievements don't mean much really but they are nice to earn and being a perfectionist I like to get as many as possible.

So for now ME will lay dormant, waiting impatiently for some new content to arrive. Hurry up Bioware.

Top 5 video games ever

Everyone likes a good list and it seems I'm no different. While thinking about a list of films I want to see this year I began thinking of what games I was interested in this year too. I had intended to write something on that but then I got to thinking about what my favourite games of all time are.

The five games below could probably change if I were to do the list again. As with most lists it is hard to narrow it down and they generally change if you think too hard. So here is my top five of all time.



Streets of Rage II - Megadrive

This game just never got old for me. Myself and my friend must have spend a huge chunk of our youth beating up thousands upon thousands of punks thrown at us by the villainous Kingpin. For it's time the graphics were pushing boundaries on the Megadrive and as for the music that has gone down has the best to grace the system. While some may deride it as simply a side scrolling beat'em up it had a very sophisticated control system. Every character had their own unique moves and plenty of them. To top is all off it was and is a fantastic two player experience. In fact, I only recently downloaded this for XBLA.




Pro Evolution Soccer (all iterations)
This choice includes a multitude of games and I'm including all the different versions of Pro Evo even the original International Superstar Soccer from the SNES (although maybe not the N64 version). I've had versions on the PSOne, PS2 and the Xbox 360.

Always the far better alternative to the FIFA series the game always improves upon itself year on year. Since the 360 version I've been able to take the game online and that has only improved the thrills it provides.





Gears of War - Xbox 360
I'm including this game as it was the first game to convince me that a new generation of gaming had arrived. It was time to upgrade from the PS2 to 360. Nothing from the launch games on the 360 made me think WOW until I saw this game. Then thankfully when I got the console and the game, the gameplay lived up to the hype.

A newer game like COD4 will probably surpass it but the one thing it won't have is that wow factor, the first taste of a new generation of games. Plus it was my first experience of online gameplay, which is fantastic.





Super Mario World - SNES
Sonic was good sorry scratch that it was great and the other Mario games were good. However, it is Super Mario World that brought the platform game to a totally different level. It had fantastic graphics, which have stood the test of time, great sound and world beating gameplay.

Plus it was a challenge, if memory serves it had 99 levels. With those frust. The addition of Yoshi and a caped flying super Mario added some brand new gameplay dynamics. It remains the one game from that period that I still go back to and play the odd time.





Gunstar Heroes - Megadrive
This game my strike some as a strange choice and if I thought hard enough I could probably think of a better game from my gaming history. However, if you've ever played this game you will probably understand. It is (just) a side scrolling shoot'em-up but to label it like that is to do it a disservice as it was bursting with originality.

It had a brilliant two player co-op with both players combing for some wonderful attack moves. Also it wasn't only a shooter but attacks included beat'em-up style moves too. I think this game also pushed the graphical capabilities of the Megadrive to the absolute limit. The game was so addictive I remember one near all night session with a close friend, only to fail at the very last moment.

Honourable Mentions

• NBA Jam (Megadrive) - great two player game.
• GTA: Vice City (PS2) - so violent it was funny.
• Worms (PSOne) - hours upon hours of multiplayer fun.
• Super Mario All-Stars (SNES) - quantity and quality.
• Mario Kart (SNES) - so, so, so much fun.

Some new kit

Yesterday I finally took the plunge and bought the Xbox 360 Messenger Kit. I had thought about getting it a number of times but had never gone through with it. However, now that I'm really getting into the Master League in PES2008 I wanted to do some editing.

Normally I wouldn't bother with editing the game as I always plan on getting the next iteration of the game. It would be a lot of work which would be gone to waste by the following release. However, I suspect I won't be updating the title this year so now I want everything to be perfect. I'm a bit of a perfectionist that way.

Anyway, this is all off the point. I had just wanted to say how cool I think the Messenger Kit is. It is perfectly designed with a nice, clear and full QWERTY keyboard layout. The buttons are nicely spaced and you can get a decent typing speed going. I had concerns that it would add too much weight to the already slightly heaving 360 controller but it is incredibly light. You can play a game iwht the keyboard attached without any noticeable difference. The keyboard also detaches very easily so the impact on gameplay is negligible as you can just snap it off. Also the keys lights up which is a cool feature.

All in all it is almost good enough for me to enable MS Messenger on my 360! But nothing is that good.

And so it starts...

So, I decided the other day to start up a blog and here I am making my first post. I have no real master plan as to what I want to blog to become. I thik I am going to cover mainly the things that entertain me.

So what entertains me you ask? Mainly film, football and video games (mainly Xbox 360 these days). So I see most of my posts detailing how these things are affecting me and prompting me to post about it here on the web.

For now that is all I have to say. I have to go now and check out the HTML editing options on this site. I shall return.

p.s. if your wondering, my name is my Gamertag on Xbox Live.