Why the heck didn't I play this sooner? Assassins Creed 2

So the other day while bored I decided to have a look at what games I have on my shelf that I still haven't gotten around to playing. (Far to many for my liking; especially when I picked some up on release that are now bargain bin regulars) I then stumbled across Assassins Creed 2, or should I say Assassins Creed 2, Brotherhood and 3. All 3 games had been bought as gifts and just sat sealed on my games shelf gathering dust as I had no inkling to play them after trying to collect all the flags in the first game.

I thought I may as well give Assassins Creed 2 a go just to see if things had changed much from the first game; I don't know if it's because I am bored of playing the same fps's over and over again or if the game is just a quality title. One thing I do know though is that I am really enjoying the experience, although I am determined not to collect all the feathers in this game. One of the reasons for this is with my gaming time now being limited I just want to play as many games as I can for fun rather than spend hours on end collection things for a trophy that like achievements doesn't mean shit to me.

I have to say that it's a combination of things that make Assassins Creed 2 so enjoyable to play; one part being the tomb raider-esque levels that see you working out how to get to a specific area. (Although there aren't to many of these in the game) Overall though I am finding that the game still looks pretty good after all these years and the controls, sound and gameplay all add up to one enjoyable experience. I don't know if I will play one of the next game's in the series straight after completing AC2 but I am now more inclined to play them in the very near future.

Impressions: Tekken Revolution

So Namco have released Tekken Revolution on the PS3 and the best thing about it is it is free to play, being free to play though does mean that the game does have it's down sides to it as well. That doesn't stop this game being the solid fighting game that we all know Tekken to be; and with a host of characters to choose from straight off and others unlocked by playing the game you won't really be stuck for choice as all your favourite characters are included.

A couple of the downsides to the game being free to play is that there is no local 2 player option which is something that is something of a bad thing as you now have to take it in turns to play against either the computer or against another player online. Then there is also the issue of needing tokens to play which you can use up pretty quickly during online play; you do get more of these over time (Like in Facebook games) or you do have the dreaded option to buy more from the playstation store. (Something you really shouldn't do as it's a waste of real money)

Despite the downsides though Tekken Revolution does offer a good experience and harks back to the olden days with everything stripped down so only arcade and online multi-player modes included. The game also includes a new system where you can level up your characters enhancing their power, endurance and vigor. While playing I didn't experience any lag as the game looks for the best connections for you; which is a relief as in previous fighting games I have had some ropey experiences to say the least.

So should you give Tekken Revolution a try? Even if you had to pay £5 for it I would say it was worth the money so at free it's a bargain; so go download it and I may see you for a match online.

Best & Worst Of COD Playercards I Saw Last Night

As you will probably know Black Ops 2 has the option of editing your playcard and making your own logo. I like quite a few others enjoy seeing some of the designs that people come up with, here are just a few good and crappy ones I came across last night while playing. I will start things off with mine.

What's more scary than an enemy soldier? How about a dolphin with a rocket for a penis about to bum you?

What could be more cheerful than a smiley face with blood patches and an axe in his head?

Boring :(

Pretty awesome Bane character

Boobies FTW!

I think this person has issues

This guy also went super saiyen in the game killing me 5 times :(

Don't know who this is but pretty cool

1 out of a billion for effort!

This is just bad

Captain Bird?

There is always one with penis envy issues

Another pretty cool design

Who doesn't love Toad?

Ted has lost some weight. 

Halo 4 Actually Fun!

I haven't really ever been a fan of the Halo games, sure I have played most of them and I can appreciate why some gamer's really enjoy them it's just they aren't really my cup of tea. Well that has all changed after I recently giving Halo 4 a whirl, instead of getting a decidedly average shooter I ended up with a game that provides a really enjoyable experience. Maybe part of this has been because of my diminished gaming time that I have lately, or it could just be that I found the game at the right time to enjoy it.

Graphically I have to say the game looks great for the most part, although some sections don't seem as polished as others. It is definitely the most visually stunning of the series though, which really should come as little surprise. One thing I did have an issue with though was playing with surround sound headphones on, as for some reason on certain cut-scenes the music was really loud making the voices hard to hear. At this point I reset the console and checked all the settings on the 360 yet I still had the same problem besides tweaking both the surround sound system. Luckily there is an option to turn on subtitles, although half way through the long ass cut scene I got bored of reading them.

The game contains everything you would expect to see in a Halo game, apart from the Flood (or at least they haven't popped up yet as I am still only 3/4 of the way through the game) as well as including some new enemies to shoot at as well as some new weapons to play with. The Light Rifle being one of my favourites to use, although there are crap guns like the "Bolt Shot"  which I really don't like. I also don't see the point of the new pulse grenades as they don't really seem to do anything.

Hopefully the online mode's will be just as enjoyable as my experience of playing the campaign mode, although I am not looking forward to getting my ass handed to me repeatedly during my first few games online. I have to say I am also quite tempted to play Halo OSDT and Anniversary when I finally finish Halo 4 since they have been sat on my shelf for quite a while begging to be played. I never thought I would say it but Halo is actually fun! PEWPEW-WTFBBQOMG!

Revisit: Burnout Legends (PSP)

I recently went hunting in my loft for something the other day when I stumbled across my boxed up PSP games. After having a look through I decided to steal my son's PSP since he doesn't use it and give Burnout Legends a whirl once again. I have to say I have no idea how I managed to see everything on this game, either my eye sight has deteriorated (Eye test said it hasn't) or I have just got used to playing in HD on a big screen. Despite this the game is still just as fun to play these days as back upon its first release (although you will still groan when you hit oncoming traffic that you see at the last moment) and loads pretty fast considering how old it is.

I have to say though that the game is ideal for quick blasts here and there while on lunch at work or even just for the 5 minute poop at home. I have to say that the only real thing wrong with the game is the controls are uncomfortable, but that isn't down to the game but the shitty PSP itself. (Which leaves you with an aching thumb hours after using it for long periods of time)

The music soundtrack is also as good today as it was upon the games release with a lot of the tracks coming from Burnout: Takedown (Albeit with only a few tracks making the transition due to the small memory of the umd disk) which was also an awesome game. The crash mode is still playable, although it is less fun than in the modern Burnout releases due to modern games improving on the original mode, add in the fact that the after touch doesn't really work to well on the PSP's small screen.

The game is basically a mix and match of levels from the first 3 games in the Burnout series and as such if you have ever played any of those games then you will remember some of the levels with fondness. Unlike some other games Burnout Legends has aged pretty well, although some of this may be contributed to the fact that it is on a small screen as apposed to being on a 42 inch tv. All in all though Burnout Legends is still worth a quick blast these days and although I can't see myself playing the game in a couple of months it's going to keep me entertained for quite a bit of time.

Minecraft

Minecraft is the fastest selling XBLA title of all time, but is it any good? Well that all depends on what your idea of good is. This is one game that you really need to try the trial version of before spending 1600 points on the game as it really is like Marmite. (In being that you will either love it or hate it)

It is quite a strange feeling when you first start playing and after a while realise that you have spent the last few hours digging in near pitch black and destroying blocks only to refine them and create things with them. Yet you can't help but keep digging and creating more and more things or improve on what you have made so far in the game as it moves through it's day and night cycle. Then their is the harvesting of food, shearing of sheep (by hitting them) or killing of pigs to get pork chops as well as a few other things to do in the game that make it sound rather boring when described.

The game also offers a range of different difficulty levels to play on, these range from Peaceful where you are left alone to dig and build with nothing else to worry about. Yet putting the difficulty up a notch or 3 and night time begins to become something to dread as Spiders, Zombies, Skeletons and Creepers turn up to try and kill you. (With Creepers and Spiders still remaining on the map in the day time as well) The worst of these for me has to be either the Skeletons with the sneaky bow and arrow attacks, or the Creepers who will just blow up right next to you killing you and destroying any blocks near them. (Thinking about it the bastard Creepers are the worst, the shits!) One good thing is that you can train

One thing that does improve the game and makes it a lot more enjoyable is the multi-player mode. If this mode is played how it should be then you and your friends (Up to 8 players) can build some amazing creations a lot quicker than you would normally do on your own. So far me and a few others have built Pyramids, Sky bridges, Skyscrapers and even a floating train track high above the clouds all in one game. Sadly though one of us found the TNT and started acting like a dick blowing up peoples houses, luckily with the duplication glitch all that was sorted out as I planted TNT all over the Pyramid that Rad Zero had built and blew it to smithereens which made the game full of sad pandas as blame was passed around before we all agreed to start a new world.

One thing the game does contain is censorship when it comes to the signs, and strangely enough you cant put "Get of my land" or some other sentences along with the obvious swear words in the game. Yet you can write stuff in game using blocks as I did in Graf1k's game while he was busy building a house. Minecraft is one of those games though that I can see myself returning to from time to time to expand on what I have built in my world, or jump into a xbox live friends game online just to fuck things up or build statues of things that I shouldn't probably put in the game.

Revisited: Warriors Orochi

As gamers we sometime get urges to return to an old game and replay one of our favourite games that we have played in the past. This weekend just gone I had the urge to do just that and decided to start playing Warriors Orochi on the Xbox 360 again from the beginning. Something that I am glad I did (even though the game does feature a lot of bugs that I forgot about, including immense slowdown on certain levels) So has Warriors Orochi aged well in the 5 years or so since its release?

It’s a mixture of yes and no, some of the things I liked originally are still the same, yet there are some little things that seem to hinder my enjoyment of the game than when I originally played it.

One thing that I noticed this time playing is that the voice acting for most of the characters seems to have been done by the same set of people, leading to quite a few characters sounding exactly the same. I know this doesn't sound like much but it did annoy me quite a bit for some reason which after playing the game for a few hours started to really annoy me.

Another thing is the characters just seem so slow when compared with Orochi 3, they just seem to amble about and take ages to get anywhere (even when using a horse to traverse the map) This seems like a major thing at the start but turns into a petty annoyance after a while as you get used to it.

The major problem though is when you get onto the last level of the game and the slowdown starts, this makes the first part of the game unbearable and doesn't clear up until you have killed quite a few enemies and taken over some of the enemy spawn points. Then everything runs smoother making the game more enjoyable to play again even though it feels like your controlling a character that limps about the map. I was thinking about also playing Orochi 2 but that game was plagued with really bad slowdown on some levels (Even worse than in the first game) so my experience with my revisit to Orochi 1 has really changed my mind about ever returning to that game. 

I guess one thing I have learned from this is that sometimes games you enjoyed should never be revisited years later, that is unless you want to run the chance of being disappointed with how they have aged. Sure some games stand the test of time like Super Mario Land and a few other games, but I feel now that with the exception of a few games I really don't fancy revisiting any other games to avoid further disappointment. (Most early 3D games being an example, even including the awesome Ocarina of Time)

Bargain Basement: Knights Contract

So I recently decided to give Knights Contract a go, before starting to play the game I thought the whole immortality gimmick sounded interesting. To a certain degree it is as you hammer the X button to revive and reattach all your severed body parts into one again. For those of you that don't know the storyline here is the short version.

Witches are being rounded up and killed by an executioner after being blamed for a black plague epidemic that has spread through out the towns. The excutioner kills Gwendel and upon lobbing off her head is cursed with immortality. As a result he is chased and becomes an outcast and hunted by his own towns people. 100 years later and the executioner bumps into the witch he killed 100 years before and a contract between the two of them is made and so the story starts to unfold.

The game play is pretty simple just hack everything in sight while protecting Gwendel as you set upon your quest to punish those that broke the witches code; (Don't harm living things) as well as defeat the person behind their ressurection. Sounds pretty simple doesn't it? It's just a shame that the AI is a dumbass so upon fighting one of the bosses she stands in lava from time to time and dies as a result.


If you can get past this fault (which will annoy the crap out of you) then Knights Contract unfolds as an average action adventure game with a few little touches to make the game different from many of the other lack luster adventure games out there. Still this doesn't do anything to make the game stand out and worth playing, in fact if your thinking of doing anything other than renting this game then don't bother. You will end up sorely dissapointed.

Why PS+ Should Be An Essential Purchase For PS3 Owners

If you own a PS3 and don't have PS+ then you are  missing out, PS+ is the on thing that Sony does right that Microsoft really should try to emulate. PS+ gives you a range of  free items each month, this can be anything from games, themes and avatars which are yours as long as you subscribe, as well as discounts on other items on the PSN store. I know a lot of people say that sometimes there isn't anything that they want the odd month here and there, but for £40 a year you get a lot of bang for your bucks. (Especially when you compare it with an xbox live subscription that only lets you play online, chat and message people on your friends list)

Another argument is that as soon as you stop paying your subscription you lose the ability to play the free games you downloaded. Yet when your live subscription runs out you get nothing either, it's subscription based for a reason and that's so you keep paying Sony money for a service that is actually pretty good.

This month alone you get the following free PS3 games.

• Awesomenauts 
• Hamsterball 
• Wakeboarding HD
• Mahjong Tiles
• Sky Fighter
• Ricochet HD
• Mushroom Wars
• Magic Orbz
• Smash Cars
• Silent Hill (PSone Classic)
• Max Payne (PS2 Classic)
• Velocity (Mini)
• LA Gridlock (Mini)

The normal combined price of these games comes to £94.32, then you have the free Themes and Avatar's which normally sell for £4.23 so that's a total saving of £98.55 on all the content, minus what you actually pay per month and it works out you have got all those for only £3.33 a month.Ok I know that this month is a really good month for Plus users, and some months we only get about 5-6 games. (Some of which suck ass) Yet can you really argue with paying so little for a good deal? That isn't including the discounts you get on other items on the store by being a plus member. Then add to this that you can download the games to two separate consoles as well and the deal gets even better.

I realise this may seem like it has just turned into an advert for Plus; yet it is just a me as a fellow gamer trying to let other games know just why in my opinion you should get something worthwhile. The fact that Sony paid me a wad of cash to write this and advertise Plus has nothing to do with it all. :p

My Top 5...er 6 Koei Games

Last night I was looking at some of my games and started to think about some of the great games I have played and what my top 5 would be from each developer. So here we go with a run down of my top 6 (Really couldn't stick to 5 games) Koei games that I have played over the years, all in no particular order of course.

This could have quite easily have been any of the Warriors Orochi games, as I enjoyed all of them roughly the same. I know a lot of people will say it's just Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors combined, but I think that the Orochi series is a lot more than just that. Sure adding the ability to swap between a choice of three characters on the fly is the main difference to this and the other DW/SW games.Yet the story-lines and slightly different gameplay make this a refreshing change from the DW series which was starting to stagnate and helped breathe new life into the game genre.

The only bad thing I can say about Orochi 3 is that you don't have to grind the levels so much to achieve 100% completion in other games, this could be due to the new Tecmo-Koei merger which seems to have resulted in making games easier in the hopes of appealing to the mass market that normally shuns them.

Crimson Sea is one game I stumbled across by accident while looking for something to play, I saw the box art and the reasonable price and thought it was worth the gamble. (To think I nearly bought Enter The Matrix instead *Shudder) Luckily for me I ended up getting an enjoyable game that played  like a cross between an adventure game than the hack n slash gameplay that Koei is known for today. The visuals probably look dated quite a bit today, yet back in 2003 the game was very easy on the eye.

The game sold well enough to receive a sequel that I remember wasn't as much fun as the first game, (although it was still a good game in it's own right) and even stranger was a PS2 exclusive. I say strange because a lot of people with a PS2 probably won't have played the first game, so probably skipped over getting the sequel as a result.

Samurai Warriors 2 may seem like an odd choice to some people especially with there being a third game out, but then when you realise the third game only came out on the Wii in the UK then it's off little surprise that the 2nd game has taken this spot.

Samurai Warriors 2 came out at just the right time for me as I started to get bored of the crap games being released on the 360 at the time. (Games like The Outfit, Rumble Roses XX and the yearly sports updates) Samurai Warriors 2 basically just took the Dynasty Warriors and added little things to make it a worth while update and fun to play. One of the things that really set it apart though is the desktop style board game included, (which was quite a strange inclusion as it really wasn't something I expected) which saw you competing against four opponents for gold. Thinking about it I may have to give the game a whirl again sometime soon.

What can be said about the latest Dynasty Warriors game; I know I should have really included an Empires version in my list, yet it's the main series that really got me hooked onto this style of game. (Strangely though I didn't like the first game in the series, yet really enjoyed the 2nd although they seemed near enough identical)

I think one of the main things I enjoy is that the characters are based on real people that lived thousands of years ago and their legend lives on today. Not only in games though, but also through films and books that are still being made and written. Number 7 though has to be the best in the series so far, taking all the best bits of the other games and improving on them.

Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce took the DW series and transformed it into a  different experience by trying to replicate a few different games by adding a central hub for between quests for leveling up weapons and crafting items.  Essentially it kind of feels like an MMO with the hub being used to select missions and giving you the chance to party up with other gamers to complete your Quest....er stage.

I really didn't play the game as much as I should have done due to outside issues like shitty internet, but when I did manage to get online I have to say I enjoyed the experience and was amazed at how smoothly the game ran with all the enemies on screen at once.

Now quite a few of you will be looking at this wondering just what the crap this game is doing here, and to be honest with you it would seem like a strange choice to me if it wasn't for the fact that the game was pretty addictive to play. Back in the days of the Amiga 500 I like many used to go round to the local car boot and buy the latest games that had been pirated.

Romance is a strategy game that sees you trying to gain control of all of China, this was done by developing land, paying taxes and invading other provinces.It sound's pretty boring but like I said it was strangely addictive and I used to play it sporadically for hours on end. To be honest though I can't really remember 100% if I owned the first or second game, looking at the release dates though I am pretty sure it was the second game in the series.

Mystic Heroes reminds me of a Dynasty Warriors game for younger kids, I think it got it's teen rating just because you have at other people with swords and other weapons. (Game ratings started to get a bit more stricter after the shock horror of  GTA on the original Playstation sent the nation into an uproar) Either way I tested the game before playing it with my 5 year old son, luckily though he managed to contain himself from rampaging round town attacking people with a broom handle. 

Thinking about it now the game was alright but not amazing, it could be that because it was one of the first games that me and my son played together where he didn't suck, and that's why it sticks out in my mind and awarded it a place on this list, then again that could be what makes some games seem more fun when you think about them. 

So there you go, that's my top 6 Koei games maybe I should do a list of my least favourite Koei games next, including some of the dodgy games below....

These games suck, especially Gundam and Fatal Inertia

My (Reduced) Gaming Habits

It's a strange time for me in my life as a gamer, sure I am still playing quite often and snatching an hour or 2 here and there to game. Yet I tend to get bored quite a bit lately or will put a game in and then just leave it on the main menu and go and do something else; returning an hour or so after only to turn the system back off. Then add to this that my fiancee is heavily pregnant and I have to watch that she doesn't start to feel neglected by the amount of time I spend gaming when I get in from work, then balance that with spending time with my son at the weekend and it's surprising how much little time I have for my hobby that used to take up most of my day.

Yet still I recently purchased a new 360 despite there only being a few games on it that I wanted to play since most games these days are multi-format with the exception of a few system exclusives. The games I wanted a new 360 for where Gears and the Sega Saturn classic Guardian Heroes; other than these it was so that the 100+ xbox 360 games I already own were available for me to play when I felt like it. (Some of which I had purchased again since my last 360 died for the PS3 that I really enjoyed playing)

Since Friday I have spent about 5 hours re-downloading my purchases from xbox live to my new console and messing with my router; since the 360 decided to keep disconnecting from live every 20 minutes or so for some strange reason. Then there has been the time I spent downloading Guardian Heroes and the 3 minutes I spent playing it before realising I just really can't be arsed playing it at the moment. I have spent quite a bit of time on Gears 3 playing Horde mode with randoms that seem to enjoy playing for about 5-10 waves then quitting like little bitches, or playing with noobs that want you to help them up when they are downed yet ignore you when it's you that needs the favour returning. (Which is a pretty fucking dumbass move since its a team game)

I also popped Call of Duty 2 into my 360 and invited some of my xbox live buddies into an online game to take the piss as they were all playing Modern Warfare 3. Surprisingly enough they didn't join so I ended up playing against a random that was still playing the game online (after the 6 years or soof the game first coming out on the 360) and managed to beat him. I like to imagine that he is sat in a locked room in the middle of Alaska or somewhere eagerly awaiting another opponent that will play against him as it is the only game that he possesses; and that by joining and beating his ass (5 rounds to 1) I helped to brighten up his day.

So that is what I have been playing since Friday last week until last night, I still need to finish up Warriors Orochi 3 and grind out the last few bits before the baby gets here. Then there is still Final Fantasy XIII to finish and XIII-2 to start along with a host of other games. Oh and start to play Guardian Heroes since it was one of the main reasons why I bought the 360 in the first place in-between a bit more of Gears 3 campaign and Horde mode. Add to that all the other games that have been downloaded to my PS3 or 360 from the PSN or XBLA and the retail games I seem to purchase just to stack on my shelf means I have quite a bit of gaming to do.

So I guess the race is on to play as much as I can before my already shrinking gaming time diminishes even further with random feeding times, crying and shitty nappies taking over my already hectic household. Still I would take just a few hours of gaming a week and the life I have rather than return to how my life used to be. Lets face it my life is pretty sweet and I am more than happy with the way things are going, Plus I will always have time for gaming as my missus quite enjoys the peace and quiet of me playing something while she watches her soaps. :)