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.

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!