And the winner pitifully is...

M

Maybe, I'm a little bitter...
So Batman arkham Asylum was not the people's choice for the GAME Award last night at the BAFTA Video Game Awards, no it was Modern Warfare 2 that came out top dog.  If this is the kind of game that the British public thinks is the best out of all of the games released last year, well maybe they just don't deserve to be sold decent games any more....

However
The people behind the actual BAFTAs, the ones who decided on the other categories that were not voted for by the public, pretty much snubbed Modern Warfare 2.  Obviously the "industry" knows a foolish public opinion when it sees it.  The big winner of last night was Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, which scooped Best Action Game, Best Original Score, Best Story and Best Use of Audio.

And you know what? Batman Arkham Asylum didn't do too bad either, achieving Best Game (yeah, I know) and Best Gameplay.  So, I'm happy.  Also, Left 4 Dead 2 claimed Best Multiplayer Game of the year, again another title people may have thought Modern Warfare 2 would get.

Infact
Both Modern Warfare 2 and Assassin's Creed 2 were ignored by the academy voters.  They didn't pick up a single award.  And maybe I am a little smug about this.

On one final note
Mr Shigeru Miyamoto received an Academy Fellowship.  And I have to say that he's definitely earned that one.  In case you don't know who he is, let's just say he is one of the top people at Nintendo and responsible for such gaming classics as Mario Bros and The Legend of Zelda.

Related links
List of all the winners and losers at the 2010 awards
Official Modern Warfare 2 site
Official Uncharted website
Official Batman Arkham Asylum site
Official Left 4 Dead 2 site

BAFTA Video Game Awards 2010 (tonight)

If...........
You're one of the few people who took the time to vote in the GAME BAFTA Award 2009, then tonight you'll learn whether the public is truly a bunch of uninspired idiots that either voted Assassin's Creed 2 to the top or Modern Warfare 2.  Ideally that won't be the result (I pray).

Why the bashing?
MOD 2 had an even less comprehensible storyline than the first game, and didn't exactly improve much on what its predecessor got up to.  Same goes for Assassin's Creed 2.

Now if there is a game in the list that should win...
Well, obviously Batman Arkham Asylum is the superior game on the list.  And with the 3D Game of the Year version soon to be released, obviously the most awesome game of last year.  It has everything going for it: fabulous story, fantastic voice acting, intriguing game play, ingenious gadgets, and luxurious graphics.

E

Either way
You can catch the ceremony live online at 8:45pm tonight.  Just check out the links below to see where.

Related links
Official BAFTA Awards site gaming section, with live video stream available of ceremony on 19-03-2010 8:45pm
Previously the home of where to vote for the GAME game, tonight it will have a stream available at the same time as the BAFTA site

Tackling Final Fantasy XIII

Pardon?
The lack of stuff this week has been in part due to Paul and mine's journey through Final Fantasy XIII.  It's a big game and deserves to be properly played through before we give our verdict on it.


Stuff will appear
We will be posting stuff, and have been, but if a day or so goes by and there's nothing new it's because we're lost on Cocoon.

In the mean time, check out these related links:


Related links
Official website
Wiki entry

Valve goodness on your Mac?

T

Word is...
Valve are bringing Half Life 2 games, Left 4 Dead series, Team Fortress 2, Portal (and its upcoming sequel), plus a host of other games and Steam to Apple's Mac computers next month.  Finally the Freeman will be swinging his crowbar from on high across the highly aesthetic screens of Apple's larger hardware.

Benefits for Mac users
Turns out that if someone has previously bought a Windows copy of a game via Steam, then they will be able to re-download the game for their Mac free of charge.  And servers for Windows and Mac users will be fully-integrated.

A whole new level of fanboyism awaits...
I thought it was bad enough listening to, and reading about, console owners attacking each other over their hardware choices.  Now I foresee a future where taunts will revolve around Windows and Mac users insulting each other to new levels, and it was already bad enough now.

Finally
This is definitely good news for Mac users, and while I cannot support their choice of operating system, I do believe in decent gaming access for all.  Now would someone please explain to me how a Mac user is meant to cope without having easy access to a mouse's right click, (shift on the keyboard and click mouse = naff), whilst running around on Team Fortress 2, hmmmm?

Related links
Valve's announcement
Left 4 Dead review
Portal review
Half-Life 2 review
Half Life 2: Episode 1 review
Half-Life 2: Episode 2 review

What's Random House up to?

The publishing giants...
Random House, in the US at least, has set its sights on going into the video games biz.  Well, actually they already own the Prima strategy guides imprint, so it's not like the company as a whole is new to games.

Wall Street Journal
Let the story out originally, last week, with some quick words from the people responsible for this addition to the Random House portfolio.  So far RH has teamed up with Stardock Corp, a US game development company.  In the future RH are hoping to put together a horror thriller title and a fantasy title.

What this means
Well, a huge advantage of having one of the largest publishing houses in the world working on games is that they have access to huge amount of already published material from which games could be based on.  Not only that, but the number of authors that specialise in the genres that video games tend to draw on are many as well.  This potentially means that RH could be leading the way with heavily story driven games, with well plotted stories and believable characters.

Story is not everything though
There are plenty of mainstream video gaming titles released each year that could always do with a story/plot clean up, so masters of story creation getting involved in the industry is a good thing.  However, RH will have to remember that there will always be some stories that are far suited to one medium than another.

Related links
Wall Street Journal Article
Random House, US website 

Little Big Planet PSP

 

The return of Sack Boy

Yes, Sack Boy is back, (even more portable and smaller than before).  A year since the release of the PS3 platformer, SCE Cambridge and Media Molecule have brought forth Sack Boy’s latest adventures, this time on the PSP, with more insanely designed levels and create-and-share-your-own customisation.  So join me, as we delve into what is meant to be the world’s collective imagination.

Stephen Fry

The English language version of the game sees the return of Stephen Fry as the narrator.  Fry guides you through the game, along with a couple of helpful characters on the levels, helping you to learn all that you could possibly want to know about the world of Little Big Planet.  At times you will be very thankful for this guidance, especially the characters that talk to you on the levels, as often they will give you clues that are essential for figuring out how to progress through a level.

Story

Little Big Planet on the PSP does not have the same basic story as its big brother on the PS3.  Instead of the world created from the imaginations of the Creator Curators in peril, the PSP game sees the Creator Curators eager to get to a carnival that is being held in their honour.  Once Sack Boy has proven himself in the Story levels, he is finally invited to the carnival where he has a float along with all the other Creator Curators.  Not that Little Big Planet games are really about the story, no, do not expect anything close to a Shakespearean tragedy here.

Game play

As with the first game, the PSP game sees a great deal of emphasis on players becoming Creator Curators themselves and spending time not just customising Sack Boy, but masterminding and building their own levels based off of the main game’s content.  Level creation may seem like a fun idea when you first hear about it, however when you start up the level creator you are greeted with a mode that is not at as simple to use as you would have hoped.  Even Mr Fry cannot make things easier for you.  It can take longer than a play through of the Story levels to create a single level that is suitable for playing.

There is not much refuge to be found in the Story levels either.  Though the PSP game has vastly improved on issues from the controls and game play of the PS3 game, this being the different paths that you can move Sack Boy onto during levels, the controls still leave a lot to be desired.  Often you’ll find yourself cursing the game, as your best efforts to grab and jump between parts of level environments do not work due to the controls still being quite unresponsive.  Also, just plain old jumping never seems to want to work in the way you want it to, high jumps are often elusive beasts during the course of the game.  Annoyingly the game would even glitch at times, leaving your Sack person stuck on the side of a ledge unable to jump or move left or right, with a reset back to a progress point the only option left to you.

Game length

Controls aside, Little Big Planet on the PSP, is an incredibly short platformer.  It takes less than a day to complete the Story levels, and there is no multiplayer.  This indicates that SCE Cambridge and Media Molecule were hoping that the create-and-share element of the game would keep people going.  In fact, after struggling through the Story levels, the end carnival seems greatly lack lustre due to how much effort is needed to get to the end.

Stereotyping

Perhaps the main thing that I find difficult to understand about this game is not the whole create-and-share aspect, but the stereotyping done of different nationalities in the Story levels.  People from the Alps into lederhosen and clocks, people from the Middle East whose interests are only magic carpets and magic lamps, dragons and fireworks in China… it’s as if it was cooked up from a less raunchy version of Jim Davidson’s imagination.

 

Finally

Little Big Planet for the PSP, though maintaining many aspects of the first game, seems rushed and heavily relies on the create-and-share part of the game but this makes the replayability weak.  The only people who will get a great deal from this game are those who can handle the obsessive amount of hours needed to devise and create levels in the level creator.  Those looking for an enjoyable platform should look to the original or elsewhere entirely.

Positives
Colourful and interesting graphics
Partly improved controls
Stephen Fry
Helpful in-level characters
Create your own levels…

Negatives
… Create your own levels
The jump control
Ledge glitching
Stereotyping
Short Story

Over all score: 70%

Related links

Official Little Big Planet website

Drawn To Life: The Next Chapter DS

Cute but sinister
5th Cell returns to the world of the first Drawn to Life with this sequel.  The original game was well received when it was released in 2007.  Whilst not straying far, if at all, from the game play of the first Drawn to Life, Next Chapter sees the addition of new villages to explore, a new plot and the true identity of a minor character in the first game, and this one, is finally revealed.


Story
Next Chapter revolves around a quest to restore the world to rights when colour disappears from the Raposa village of the first game, many characters disappear into thin air, and as the inhabitants go on to discover colour has left the entire world as well.  Soon the Creator (you) is called upon to send a hero (you) in which to help the Raposa with this most alarming of situations.  Before long, however, the Raposa begin to realise that the threat to their existence is not just as simple as colour disappearing from the world.


Game play
As with the first game, you are given the opportunity to design a character from scratch, or use a complete guide so that you don’t design your own character or use the guide to help you design your own.  Designing aspects of the game is one of the more important aspects to gameplay and happens throughout the game, with parts of the environment given over to you for their design to be finalised.  Unlike in the Wii version that goes by the same name, but is not the same game, the DS version of Next Chapter will have some instances where you have no guide on which to base or use instead of your own imagination when drawing.

Due to the DS and its stylus being nowhere near as unwieldy as using the Wii-mote in the Wii game, designing the hero and other items in the environment is not an endurance exercise.  It is a great deal easier to spend time drawing your own creations, but it may take a great deal of effort to be sure things look as good as you want them to, because you are editing images on nearly a pixel by pixel basis.  Yet the DS version is certainly superior when it comes to designing the hero, as it is simpler to use than the Wii game.  Also, if there is any designs of yours that you are particularly proud of you are able to trade them with others using multi-card play.

Next Chapter is easier to play than similar and recent platformers.  The levels have been designed in such ways that it is extremely difficult to become lost, and routes for progression and how to get there are logical.   There are times, however that the more experienced platform player will find the levels far too easy to complete.  During the course of the game the hero gains access to two morphing abilities that make the navigation of later levels in the game interesting and puzzling in a way that is enjoyable.


Finally
The DS version of Next Chapter is almost a completely different experience to the Wii version of the game.  The aesthetics of the game design and the story are far more developed and sophisticated than what Planet Moon Studios did with their Wii based sequel.  Next Chapter on the DS retains the charming style of the original game, but also adds on a level of story that is far more mature than can be found in the offerings of most Mario games and Little Big Planet.  Though at first glance the story to Next Chapter on the DS can seem simple, the ending is far from it and has a level of depth not normally seen in a game marketed towards children.  It is a credit to 5th Cell that though the game is short, it does not feel like this when played, and feels just about the right length, even if you don’t go back to different villages and try to complete them 100%.

Positives
Story with depth
Charming design
Is not too long
Follows on logically from the first game
Accessible game play…
 
Negatives
… Accessible game play
Dealing with pixels whilst designing

Over all score: 80%


Related links
Official website

Left4Dead

Because it's been too long without a mention of the 'z-word'

Surprisingly I've never reviewed Left 4 Dead for the XBox 360 before.  I've had the game since launch, so why haven't I talked about it?  I like zombie games and movies, and if you're reading this then there's a chance that you do too.

Why review now?

It's only been recently that I have been able to experience the game fully, mostly because I finally obtained a Gold Membership for XBox Live, meaning that I can play the game (and many others) online with and/or against actual humans for the first time ever.  Also, the latest DLC (download content) for the game was made available today.

The game is available for PC on disc or via Steam, on disc for the 360, and there is a Game of the Year Edition available for the 360 and PC, which comes reloaded with Survival Mode, and is best described as a first person shooter (FPS) survival horror game.

Time for a Crash Course

Today an extra campaign was added to Left 4 Dead, entitled 'Crash Course'.  As to the basic premise for the whole game: you play as one of four characters trapped in one of several scenarios, trying to escape a rather angry and angsty zombie horde.  Or in the case of Versus Mode: you play as either the particularly potent zombies or the survivors.

When you start the game up an intro movie will play, which introduces the player to the various ways in which to handle the situations and enemies that will be meted out to you by the A.I. director.  Yes that's right, the A.I. director, aka, a malicious thing that will make things more difficult for you, the better you do, and each time you run through a campaign, will make it different than before in terms of enemy spawning, and the locations of ammo, weapons and health items.

Characters

The characters are Zoey, Louis, Bill and Francis.  Neither of them have any strengths or weaknesses, but have different reasons for not being zombie chow at the beginning of the game.  I prefer playing as Zoey, but that's because I always try to play as a female character in a computer game.

What's it like to play?

There are several different ways to play the game that go beyond difficulty settings, however you will need to be able to play the game online to have access to everything.  On the basic level is Campaign Mode, where (after the DLC) you can choose to play through one of five different scenarios.

Each scenario requires a different strategy, but one strategy is always important: stick together.  This is the most important thing to do when playing through this game as one of the survivors, because the director A.I. will quite happily send a Hunter, Smoker or Boomer to make the lone character's life hell.  The other modes are Survival Mode (play in one of the scenarios and see how long you last, online only), and Versus Mode (online only).

In terms of weapons you have a pistol or pistols with unlimited ammo as your primary weapon, followed by either sub-machine gun, assault rifle, hunting rifle, shotgun or automated-shotgun with limited ammo as your secondary weapon.  You can carry only one incendiary device at a time, health pack and pain pills.

Anything else?

Well, Valve were lovely enough to enable a System Link mode for the 360, so not only can you play with people online, you can LAN it as well.  This is great for parties.  Also, when you're online with the game it has a guest mode enabled so that someone can join you online without their Live account, incase they don't have one or don't have Gold, but you can play with two Gold Live accounts on the same system at the same time and go online if you want too.

If your other half enjoys killing zombies then this game is also and excellent game for couples.  My fiancé and I have a wail of a time playing this together.

Negatives

There's an occasionally annoying glitch with the Hunters where they continue to spout blood after you've killed them.  And if you're a completionist trying to get all the achievements that you can, it is a nightmare to complete the various scenarios on the Expert difficulty (though that's probably why it's called Expert).

'Crash Course' the latest DLC for the game is not as the other chapters or nearly as involving.  If you've played the other scenarios to death, then it might be worth purchasing this bit of DLC.

The only other issue is that the sequel, Left 4 Dead 2 is out in November and I would be worried about just how many people will remain online playing the first game once the new one is released.

Finally

This has been one of my most favourite games of the last year.  It is extremely re-playable and if you're old enough to legally own this game, then you should, because it's available now from all major computer game retailers.

Even though Valve has come under criticism for releasing a completely new sequel for a game that is almost a year old, I'll be reviewing the sequel when it comes out in November this year.

Related links

Official Left 4 Dead web site

Valve's web site

Wiki entry on Left 4 Dead

Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe

Button bashing on the 360

One of my comfort games of the last few months has been a game in the Mortal Kombat franchise.  I gain joy when button bashing on a control pad delivers such exquisite moves on Easy difficulty.

When was it released?

It was released at the end of 2008 for the XBox 360 and PS3.

Background

MK vs DC features characters from Midway's popular Mortal Kombat fighting game franchise battling with and against characters from Detective Comics' various comic book series.  Interestingly the fitcional universes begin to collide in the game's story, and all hell breaks loose.

Don't expect canon treatment of the characters in the game, but at least they remember to explain that the reason why MK's Raiden can kick DC's Superman's ass: Superman has no resistance to magic.  The game doesn't fit in with either franchise time line, except for maybe DC Universe's 'ultimate Elseworlds' (whatever that is (hey, I've only read a few of the Batman and Superman graphics)).

But is it fun to play?

If you're not obsessively knowledgeable of either universe, then it is fun, you can take it as a Western fighting game that has a reasonable bit of story thrown in.  Story is good.

I enjoyed the fact that someone like me, who is hopeless at pulling off combos in fighting games, stood a chance at completing arcade and story mode.  Online play works fine, but if you're just playing this game casually than a lack of ability in pulling-off combos becomes a disadvantage.

What was missing?

It would have been nice if some of the MK staples had made an appearence, such as collectible in-game items and artwork.

Worth buying?

Yes and no.  If you and friends are not serious about the game's background, then it's great to have at a party and watch MK's Sonya punch DC's Joker in the face, and other such fun character combinations.  If you're looking for something that fits in with the chronology of either: look else where. 

Related links

Official game web site

Wiki entry on the game

A free game with a sense of humour

Who's that guy?
He is of no importance...

But you're reading this, right, so you've got an internet connection, and, I hope, a sense of humour.

What's going on?
Are we not all always looking for manners in which to waste our time whilst upon the Internet. Well, here's one.

That chap pictured above is a character from The Kingdom of Loathing. A free online game of immense loveliness. It's pretty insane, but perhaps saner than reality anyway.

Here's my character:
She's a Spaghetti Sage at the moment. She makes magic happen using her awesome ways with pasta. Her favourite drink is whiskey (at the moment).

What kind of game is this?
A crazy one, but a good one. It's turn based, and you have so many turns you can make each day. You can increase your number of turns by either consuming food, or by drinking alcohol.

At least have a look at the web site: The Kingdom of Loathing.

Story
Stuff has happened and you, adventurer, needs to step in and sort it out.

I don't want to tell you too much. I'd rather you went and found out for yourself. But you'll notice a slight parody of D&D (Dungeons & Dragons) type storylines, kinda going on.

How do you play it?
Over the Internet, in your Internet browser program.

If you do sign up, just don't abuse it, OK? They want to remain free to users. They also have some very interesting looking merchandise.

At least check their page. And remember, the game is a beta version at the moment.

Related link
The Kingdom of Loathing website

Adults shouldn't play Animal Crossing

Mayor Tortimer accused of being a pervert!


Excuse me?
I was made aware of this article at GoNintendo by my boyfriend.

Watch the horror
Click on this link to read the article put up by GoNintendo and the video with the original news feature.

Today the American station responsible for the article apologised, link. Though I'm sure they could have edited out the inaccurate comments before broadcast.

According to the cop interviewed in the original broadcast, Tortimer, the mayor of Animal Crossing, a non-playable character, was in fact a pervert. I do hope his superiors bother to give him an IQ test after all this.

After all, just how can a human sized tortoise be a pervert? One that isn't even controlled by humans?

Sure the game allows you to speak and interact with other players, but you have to exchange Friend Codes before that can happen. If parents are worried, they should make sure their children don't give that code out to strangers.

And why can adults not play this?
I don't know what the advertising campaign for Animal Crossing: City Folk, for the Nintendo Wii, in the US has been, but over here in the UK Nintendo have been aiming the game at women and men aged 16 years and above. So forget the kids.

Are you a fan?
I suffered addiction issues with the previous game Animal Crossing: Wild World for the Nintendo DS. Due to fears of bringing on addiction again, I have yet to purchase this incarnation.

Related links
First GoNintendo article
Second GoNintendo article
Official Animal Crossing: City Folk website

Resident Evil 5

Well, some of my story ideas were right
Without spoiling too much, I did see this situation coming. Not that I'm proud that I guessed the story outline before I started playing the game. Though there were some surprises for me in terms of motivation for the main antagonist.

In essence: Counter bio-terrorism agent Chris Redfield is sent to a province in Africa to look into reports of potential bio-terrorist attacks in this unstable region. Chris is teamed with Sheva Alomar to help though the tasks ahead. Soon it's pretty obvious that the shit has hit the fan.

How did it play?
As of yet I have only played this with another person. The two player co-op mode, offline, is lovely, but I have no idea as to how good the computer player is. I'll probably find out sometime in the next few weeks, though it is definitely awesome to play with another human being right beside you.

In comparison to RE4?
It's a different game to Resident Evil 4, due to having two playable characters through out the entire game, and it has tonnes more extras. I believe it may be a longer game as well, however there's no overall completion time given whenever you complete an entire play through.

Are you addicted to it yet?
I have, in the past, suffered major addiction issues with Resident Evil 4, (I just couldn't get enough of Leon), but as of yet I haven't felt hugely compelled to go back to it during every waking moment. I am typing this after all.

The game does have tonnes of replay value though. You can't just play it through once, due to all the extras.

Related links
Official web site for Resident Evil 5

Forget the first game for the moment...

Beside me on the sofa ('couch' for my US readers)
Is my newly bought 360 copy of Resident Evil 5, in a nice collector's box. I haven't started playing it yet.

But I still need to finish playing RESIDENT EVIL
True, but there's no way I can stop myself or my boyfriend from playing this game together tonight. Yes I am actually holding out on playing this.

What about the racism issues?
I'm not a black African, so I can't make any real judgement on this game, its setting and the minor antagonists portrayed in regards to this issue. However, in terms of Resident Evil's story arcs, the game had to end up in Africa at some point. Parts in the earlier games, and Wesker's Report, hinted that the original virus used components from Ebola samples that had been taken from hosts in Africa. In a way, then, it's the big evil coming home to roost.

Plot speculation - spoilers warning
From what I know of the story in the franchise I think it's quite possible that Albert Wesker, who originally helped Umbrella at some level in the development of the various viruses that have featured in the games, who has for some time appeared to be trying to dominate the world from the shadows, has cross infected the Las Plagas parasite from Resident Evil 4 with one of the original, or an altered version, of the viruses featured in the original games and Resident Evil Degeneration. Wesker has taken this BOW (biological weapon) to Africa to give it a test drive as to how effective a tool it could be.

So you're going to play it before you replay the other games?
Yes. I want to play on the two player mode, quite a bit.

Related links
Official Resident Evil web site
Wesker's Report II
Wiki entry on viruses in the Resident Evil series
Wiki entry on Resident Evil game series
Wiki entry looking at the racism debate over Resident Evil 5

In which are heroine gets bitten on the neck, again and again...

When survival horror is f*****g scary
I have started playing through Resident Evil, the remake version that was released for the Nintendo Game Cube. And seriously, I have never been so scared whilst playing a computer game.

Things I've noticed
Your weapons are pathetic against the undead horde in this game. There's tonnes of puzzles. The undead are pretty fast for rotting corpses, and all you can really do is just try and dodge them.

I have an inkling of the things that are awaiting me once I get further into the game. Things are just going to get worse.

I'm going to try and finish it
I will try to finish this game, but don't expect to see a review on it in the next week. Plus Resident Evil 5 is out on Friday, and I've been saving my GAME card points to spend on it, all £22.50 worth of points. So I kind of know what I'll be playing Friday night.

Related links
Current incarnation of the Resident Evil website, with attention paid to 5
Wiki entry on Resident Evil, the first game
Blog explaining what I'm up to

Resident Evil 0

Yes, survival horror computer games...
I'm amazed that I got the two main characters, Billy and Rebecca, through this game. Zombies and mutated freaks, plus lots of confusing puzzles, can make for a deadly combination for any computer game avatar.

What's the game about?
You play as Rebecca Chambers and Billy Coen. Rebecca is a member of S.T.A.R.S., acting as a medic, S.T.A.R.S. is a tactical unit with police and military aspects in its operations. Billy Coen was a Lieutenant in the US Marines, but no longer is by the start of the game.

The two main characters are thrust together as a series of bizarre and horrifying events threaten their lives. They flee from one location to another, trying to escape a biological nightmare that has been cooked up under the folds of Umbrella (a great big global corporation with interests in bio tech).

It's not the original first game in the series
The aim for this game was to provide more back story to the Resident Evil franchise. In this game you learn more about the origins of the T virus, and its creators, and just how the events in the original game, Resident Evil, were able to take place.

What system do you play it on?
Resident Evil 0 is a game by Capcom made for the Nintendo Game Cube, but can be played on a Nintendo Wii as well, with either a Game Cube controller or a Classic Controller.

Why play the game?
Apart from the adrenaline that gets pumping as you dodge zombies, mutated apes, leeches, dogs, frogs, spiders, etc., and all the puzzles that are satisfying (if not maddening) to solve... The story is a good reason to play: it adds to the other games in the series, and has a nice bit of mystery and character development as well. The story in this game also makes it easier to understand why Resident Evil 5 is set in Africa.

I certainly enjoyed playing this.

Related links
Official Resident Evil website
Wiki entry for Resident Evil 0
My 'Rezzing it up' blog post

Vampires and zombies

No, I'm not playing some new computer game that involves the two, but I'm certainly getting my fair share of the two with my current reading and gaming activities. Seriously.

TWILIGHT, so far
Has been interesting to read. I'm near the end of the first book, and have been enjoying it. More to come on that next week.
RESIDENT EVIL 0, so far
This game hasn't been giving me nightmares yet, but I get pretty freaked out whilst playing it. Again, I'll be finished on that sometime next week.

Something is getting in the way
I had a mole removed from my left arm earlier this week. I wasn't aware of how difficult it would make doing things, having it removed. I'm having difficulty typing this. Reading and playing games has also been on the rather painful side, (let alone taking notes in uni).

Related links
Stephenie Meyer's official website on Twilight
Wiki entry on Twilight series
Official Resident Evil website
Wiki entry on the Resident Evil franchise

Rezzing it up

RESIDENT EVIL
To mark the launch of Resident Evil 5 in the next few weeks, I shall be diligently working on reviews of the past games.

So look out for reviews of one of the best game series to ever come out of Japan (named Biohazard over there). Survival horror at its best.

I'm trying to review all of the main games in chronological order, so the roster is:
Resident Evil 0
Resident Evil 1
Resident Evil 3
Resident Evil: Code Veronica X
Resident Evil 4
Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles

And once it's out:

Resident Evil 5

And maybe even Resident Evil: Degeneration a CG movie tie-in to the game series that details some events between 4 and 5.

Remember, the live action Resident Evil films, starring the lovely Mila Jovovich, are only loosely based on the games, and are not actually canon.

For the time being, check out the related links.

Related links
Official Resident Evil website
Wiki entry on the Resident Evil franchise

The Orange Box pt. 3: Portal

What the heck is that?
That, my friends, is an ill-fated 'Companion Cube'. It's an object you come across in the action-adventure-puzzle game Portal.

PORTAL
Was first released as a part of The Orange Box, by Valve, in 2007. It takes place in Aperture Science Laboratories, which we learn a small amount about in Half-Life 2: Episode 2.

This game created some of the most wide spread and strangest Internet phenomena of the last few years. If anyone has ever said to you 'The cake is a lie', they are directly quoting from this game. And you know what... the cake is a lie.

What happens?
The game has a very limited story, but you appear to play as a young woman who wakes up in the laboratories, and a robotic voice orders you to complete numerous tasks using 'portals'. Portals in this game are openings through the space and dimensions of reality that allow for the rapid travel of an individual between two points.

If that makes any sense, let me know.

However, during the course of the game, you find out that not all is at it seems, after being first convinced that you're just helping out with some experiments, it soon becomes clear that that is not all your testers want of you. Your life is put into jeopardy quite a bit.

What do you like about it?
It has some really ingenious puzzles, especially after you get the 'portal gun', which is a gun that enables your character to create their own portals.

There's also some real sinister aspects that creep into the game, and into you, as you realise just how bad off the character is. The robotic voice that directs you is eerie, and when you finally meet its source, you need to be prepared to fend for your life.

Recommend?
If, for some reason you haven't played this game yet, go play it. It's not like the other games in The Orange Box as it's not about surviving with the use of guns, for here you only have your wits and the portal gun to defend you. The puzzles are fun, if sometimes frustrating, and it's a game that makes you 'think', in a nice way.

And if you have already played it, go and play it again, just do some of the challenging modes this time. Or at least to listen to the song that plays during the end credits.

Concluding notes
That's my final review for The Orange Box. If you want to read the other reviews see:

Half-Life 2 review
Half-Life 2: Episode 1 review
Getting stuck in Half-Life 2: Episode 2
Half-Life 2: Episode 2 review

I won't be reviewing Team Fortress 2, as I don't have an XBox Live Gold account, which is needed for the online play of this game, and this game is all pretty much all online play.

Related links
Official The Orange Box website
Official Valve website
Wiki entry on Portal

Half-Life 2: Episode 2

Y'know...
I don't always need catharsis, but dang, I do now.

I'm missing it already
So after one of the most gut wrenching cliff hangers I have ever witnessed a game ending on, I now find myself wanting to be playing the as-of-yet non-existent Half-Life 2: Episode 3.

Over the last month I have found myself become increasingly fond of Half-Life's main protagonist: Gordon Freeman. After all, everyone wants to play as the man who pretty much ends the human world, right?

Were there puzzles?
Well, this sequel seemed to be shorter than the previous games, and lacked puzzles of the same magnitude, but it was nice to play it just to see how the story developed.

So you got the rocket launcher?
Yes. A friend gave me a hint at how to get the thing. Launching Freeman into the air via the use of a grenade and a metal flap worked wonders.

Any more of the ORANGE BOX left?
I've got Portal to play next, but I'm not playing Team Fortress 2 as I lack a Gold Live account for my XBox 360.

Main criticism?
The way the game ended. You just shouldn't do that to a player! It's cruel and unusual. Obviously it left it right open for another sequel, but considering how long Valve (the developers) like to take when developing things... I'd be stupid to hold my breath.

Final words...
The game is worth at least one play through, but I would say that the original Half-Life 2 is the only one out of the recent (well, if you can call just over 4 years ago 'recent') games in the series that have any re-playability. The Orange Box is still an essential gaming purchase if you own a XBox 360 or a PC.

Related links
Official Orange Box website
Wikipedia entry for Half-Life 2
Valve's website

Being stuck in the snow...

Where I live it rarely snows in the winter. When it does, it brings the entire county to its knees.

So, quite predictably I have spent the last two days stuck in a friend's house, after being marooned there on Monday afternoon. Other than coursework, what did I get up to?

Thankfully, myself and my other-half had the pleasure of staying with a couple equally into games, SF, fantasy, anime, manga, graphic novels, films and snowball fights. Thank goodness I had my laptop with me.
TWIN TOWN
A Welsh film I had never heard of until I got stuck in my friend's house. Brought out in 1997, it has a very young Rhys Ifans in one of the main roles. There's a lot of sex, drugs and swearing for a film set in Swansea, but this is a pretty decent film. It follows two brothers (not actually twins), who constantly re-offend whilst on probation, and end-up rubbing one of the local runners of organised crime up the wrong way. Cue all hell being unleashed.
SPORE
Yep, I ended up on Spore on my laptop PC. Admittedly I haven't purchased the latest, and first, expansion pack for it, but I had another good play through on it. The only problem is that I keep whimping out on playing the Space Stage, which is the final stage of the game.
ELDER SCROLLS III: MORROWIND (with expansion packs, on PC)
A Western RPG (role playing game) by Bethesda. It's set on an island, where you can pretty much roam wherever you want. Lots of magic and swords. I started a new game on it, but I didn't get very far as the game is huge. Some claim there's over 500 hours of play time on it with the expansion packs.
CHOBITS
This is a Japanese manga that was first published between 2001 to 2002. It was created by the gals at Clamp. Set in the near future it follows cram school student Hideki as he stubles across what he first thinks is an everyday android, left out in the trash, but soon turns out to be much more than that. This manga was Clamp's first one for guys (they normally write for girls), so there is a lot of 'fanservice', but it is a good read.

A full review will follow in the future.

Ehhh, what's manga?
Manga is a term derived from Japanese to classify comic-books created and originally published in Japan. They tend to be printed in black and white, and are drawin in a style that tends to be noticably different from Western comic-books and graphic novels. Quite often when they're published after being translated the layout remains the same, i.e. the panels are arranged from right to left and must be read as such.

When manga is published in Western territories it's usually released in volumes, unlike in Japan where most mangas are originally published in weekly and monthly publications containing a selection of different mangas, but these publications are targeted at different markets. Young and old, male and female: there's a huge market for manga in Japan.

Right, so what's 'fanservice'?
This is a term used to describe certain characteristics in both manga, anime (a manga that has been turned into an animated show or movie), and some Japanese computer games aimed at teenage boys, young men, and perhaps even older men. The characteristics mostly revolve around a noticeable focus on female characters' panties, busts and other noticeable sexual aspects around the female characters.

So, you weren't bored?
Certainly not.

Related links
IMDB entry for Twin Town
Official Spore web site
Elder Scrolls official web site
Wikipedia entry for Chobits