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I finally managed to finish off Devil May Cry 4 over the Easter Weekend. Its not an overly long game, weighing in at about 12 hours, and I’m sure it’s possible to fly through the game a lot quicker once you know what to do.
I’ve decided to run through the game once more on the next difficulty level, mainly to try and unlock some more achievements but also because you start off with all previously accumulated character experience, skills, abilities and items which makes the devil hunting so much more fun.
There were a couple of frustrating points about the game, which I’ll elaborate on when I write up a review, and you tend to retread the same path and locations about halfway through the game but overall it’s a great "hack ‘n slash" experience for fans of the genre.
As usual there's a backlog of games waiting to be played but so little time available. So what’s next on the list? Well, a certain Miss Croft is looking seductively enticing in Tomb Raider: Anniversary, however, Kratos may have something to say about that and barge and tear his way to the front of the list when God of War: Chains of Olympus is released later this week (UK) for the PSP.
As usual I’ll keep you posted!
I’ve now returned from a fantastic snowboarding holiday in Winter Park and I can safely say it had some of the best snow and trails I’ve ever experienced. Ah, the memories… No bones were broken, just some minor sprains, and my body clock is now returning to normal after a few days of confusion from jet lag and a very long return journey when our flight was cancelled because of very high winds in London.
As you can probably imagine I was a bit too preoccupied to play any games on the DS while away as I'd hoped. I’m only just settling back into normality here in the UK and catching up with the latest goings on with our beloved hobby, but as soon as I'm back in the flow you can expect the usual run of impressions and reviews to continue.
Just a brief post to say that there won’t be any updates for a while as I’m embarking on another Snowboarding trip soon. This time I’m off to Winter Park, Colorado, USA and I can’t wait to hit the slopes!
Also, I found out yesterday from a colleague that the site hasn't been displaying correctly on Internet Explorer since Wednesday. This has now been fixed and I'll have to ensure I check the site with other browsers more often. Apologies!
I’ll be posting as usual upon my return and I’ve a few improvements planned for Consolation Prize which I didn’t want to implement before the trip. Until then, whatever game you're playing, have fun!
Just a quick note to say that Consolation Prize has now moved onto its own domain address rather than using a “blogspot” address. I’m still using Blogger for hosting at present but I’ll hope to move away from that in the future.
The transition was painless enough to complete but I apologise if I’ve caused any problems while implementing the changeover. I’m also hoping to move onto a new layout in the next few weeks and so apologies in advance for any problems caused.
Following on from my deliberation whether to play an existing game or start something new I decided to continue with Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords. I've been playing the game (on and off) since it was released on Xbox Live Arcade last October and I'm determined to finish it, especially as I never finished the DS version. It's certainly providing excellent value for money but I think I'm on the home stretch now as I edge towards a final confrontation with Lord Bane.
In between playing Puzzle Quest there's been a glut of new demo's to try out (impressions will follow in the near future), the occasional game of Catan and a co-op session of Undertow.
Rez: HD was released today and immediately made a good impression persuading me to shell out for the full version. The game also suits my current preference for quality games that can be played in small bite sized chunks. I'm in no doubt that I'll be playing more of this game in the days ahead.
On another note, Consolation Prize has been going for a few months now and I thought it was about time I performed some general maintenance. I've finally managed to add an "archives" section to the sidebar and customised the monthly results page to show post headers by date rather than the full post details. Hopefully my tinkering hasn't caused too many problems.
Just a quick post to let you all know about a new video game blog network that is launching today over at VG Media Network, a community based site with the aim providing high quality blogs and improving member sites via reviews and helpful critique.
Although I’ve not looked at all the blogs in detail thus far they all appear to be of a high standard, are updated regularly and cover a wide range of topics including MMOs, World of Warcraft, retro gaming and game development.
Members at the time of writing are:
DrainingSouls.net
Girls Don't Game
Daniel Primed
Press the Buttons
Tank Hard!
The Hunter's Mark
The Server is Down
Write the Game
Well it’s been quite a long time since the last post but fear not I’m hoping to start regular posts again starting this week.
Unfortunately I’ve not had a serious gaming session for a few weeks now. Even though there have been plenty of games to play, and a backlog of games to complete, I’ve been having a bit of “game burnout” recently and just couldn’t get enthused enough to play any of them. I tend to find it happens every now and again and the best thing to do is just to step back from the gaming scene for a few weeks (or even months) until you're ready to play games for fun again.
After a week’s trip snowboarding in the French Alps and settling back into the daily grind I’m once again getting the gaming itch. The only deliberation is whether to finish the game of “Mass Effect” I started weeks ago (if I can remember what I was doing) or to start the year afresh with a completely new game. Suggestions are welcome!
Apologies for the distinct lack of posts over the last couple of weeks but in the run up to Christmas everything seems to have gone a bit haywire. In addition my broadband router decided to die on me and it took me a few days to get around to setting up a new one.
When I put my gaming hat back on again I’ve the usual back log of games waiting to be played. Firstly I need to finish off Mass Effect, which I started a few weeks back and was certainly an enjoyable, if flawed experience. Waiting to pounce from the shadows is Assassin’s Creed, a game which seems to have generated a lot divided opinions, and of course how could I forget the silent Gordon Freeman, patiently waiting for me to finish Episode 1 and 2 from The Orange Box.
So all that now remains to be said is to thank any readers that have meandered onto this blog and decided to hang around, and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!
I finally managed to complete the last couple of levels of the main campaign on Veteran difficulty (not the Epilogue) on Call of Duty 4 the other night. I had a feeling the last few levels would be extremely tough and this was certainly the case for "No fighting in the war room". Not only are the enemy crack shots, but there's plenty of places for them to wait in ambush.
The difficulty is compounded as the mission is against the clock and you won't get checkpoints if there isn't going to be enough time left to complete the mission, which sometimes feels unfair but in reality is a sound game mechanic.
My patience was severely tested and if I was more easily prone to frustration I'm sure the 360 controller would now be embedded in the TV. However I did find that instead of just banging my head against a brick wall and repeating the same segment time and
time again if I made a conscious decision to leave it for another day then more likely that not I would have a breakthrough the next time I played.
There are a few more achievements I'd like to get in this game, time permitting, and I've no doubt the disc will be spinning once more in the 360 soon.
I finally managed to finish off Half-Life 2 over the weekend, the core game I hasten to add, not either of the episodes. As I'm not a PC gamer unfortunately I've arrived late to the party and this was the first time I've played through the game. And what a fantastic game it was, bursting at the seams with action, puzzles, story and characterisation. I'll post my thoughts on the game in due time once I've managed to write up a review but I think it's safe to say that this deserves all the plaudits it's received over the years.
I'm now taking a break from The Orange Box for a few days as I wanted to spend some more time with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. I decided, maybe somewhat foolhardily, to play the single player campaign on "Veteran" difficulty and it's certainly providing a challenge. Surprisingly I've managed to make it up to the final three chapters although there are some real frustrating moments, particularly on "Safehouse", "Heat", and "One Shot, One Kill" where there are some seemingly impossible set-pieces where it feels like you have to rely on luck to get through. I've got a feeling the last few missions may be the most difficult of the bunch but I'll give them a shot.
This Friday sees the release of Mass Effect, a game I've been looking forward too since the first details and movie clips were released all those months ago. All been well I'll pick-up my copy over the weekend and immerse myself in what could potentially be a fantastic experience.
Unfortunately I've not had much chance to play lots of games over the last week or so, but I'm still progressing with both Half Life 2 and Puzzle Quest when time allows.
I hope I'm now into the latter stages of Puzzle Quest as I've just defeated another one of the boss characters and I'm now making my way through the quests found in the "lands of war" with my level 33 druid character. Although initially I didn't really like this class it has grown on me as the character has become more powerful and gained access to the more powerful spells.
Generally the druid doesn't have a good selection of direct damage spells but what the class does seem to excel at is "board manipulation". For example "Earthpower" allows you to destroy (and gain the effects of) all green mana tiles or "Evaporate" converts all blue mana tiles to yellow. Thus with careful use you can deny an opponent vitally needed mana whilst boosting your own supplies. I also found that if the board becomes too cluttered with "Skulls" you can use "Call Lightning" or "Lightning Storm" to remove them and damage your opponent if it looks like they'll be used against you before you have chance to use them yourself.
Half Life 2 is progressing well, with my only complaint thus far being the loading times when moving between areas. Unfortunately they do interfere slightly with the game and although they're strategically placed to not occur during pivotal sections of the game it is a bit off-putting when your hurtling along in a vehicle and the game freezes in its tracks for 20 odd seconds while the next section is loaded. Apart from that, the game is top class, hugely enjoyable and packed full of atmosphere.
Hopefully I'll have more time in the upcoming weeks and will be able to work my way through a number of demos and arcade titles that have been released for the Xbox 360. And of course there's also plenty of demos for me to try out on the PS3 that I'll report on in future posts.
I picked up a Sony PS3 last weekend. The price has recently been reduced to the point where I was willing to part with my hard earned cash. The price also included three games (from a selection of five) bundled with the system and fortunately all of them were on my list of titles I would have bought for the system. I also wanted to pick up the 60GB version before it was phased out in favour of the slightly cheaper, but feature stripped, 40GB version that was released recently.
I've not had a great deal of time to play with it but first impressions are good. The system was simple enough to set-up, connect to the wireless network and once connected to the outside world update to the latest version of the operating software (version 1.93). The PlayStation Store is easy to use and there's quite a lot of content available to download should you wish to try out some demos, watch movie clips or purchase games but it's not on a par with Xbox Marketplace yet.
It was very noticeable just how quiet the PS3 is compared to my Xbox 360, although it still gets just as warm! Unfortunately the system only comes with a SCART TV connector (Europe) which is useless for HD and gives poor picture quality, thus you have to purchase a better connector (HDMI) to get the full benefit.
So yet another toy to play with and more games added to the stockpile with Heavenly Sword, Resistance: Fall of Man and Motorstorm all waiting to be played. Firstly though I've The Orange Box, Puzzle Quest and Sega Rally Revo on the the Xbox 360 to complete!
The weekend is over once more and it's time to buckle down to work again. I've had a fairly busy game-playing weekend with bouts of Halo 3 mixed in with DiRT and smattering of Sega Rally Revo.
I'm still enjoying Halo 3 and I'm progressing with both the level scoring achievements and online multiplayer ranking when time permits. Most of my time is still spent playing co-op as I find it more enjoyable than taking part in a deathmatch type scenario.
I picked up Sega Rally Revo the other day and thus far I'm enjoying the game. However I find the opponent AI to be frustrating at times as they tend to stick to one racing line and if you happen to get in the way then you're invariably bullied off the road.
I've been playing DiRT on and off since release and I've finally completed the single player career mode 100%. Now that's finished I've turned my attention to the championship mode and thus far completed the "European" and "International" events with just the "World" event to go before the game can cast aside.
This week sees the release of PGR4 for the Xbox 360 and I'm very tempted to pick that up later in the week. It seems like at the moment there's a high profile game released on a weekly basis. The problem is getting the time to play them all!
I've been playing a lot of Halo 3 over the last few days and I'm having a real blast with the game. I've finished the campaign a couple of times now, once individually on "normal" and with a group of friends playing co-op on "Legendary" difficulty. Although the single player campaign is good I found that the real fun is to be had when you're playing co-op and I'm sure that without the help of others I wouldn't have stood a chance on Legendary, so a big "THANK-YOU" to those that participated!
Even though the campaign has been completed there's still lots for me to try out as I mess around with the various "golden skulls" and try to get the scoring achievements for each level.
So far I've only dipped my toe in to the multiplayer matchmaking water but what I've seen so far has been excellent with some interesting levels and game types. The only real negatives on my experience to date has been the number of times my connection has been terminated or the lag that I've experienced during some on-line games. However I won't lay blame on any particular area as there are a number of factors to consider such as overburdened xbox live servers and the connections of all players involved (including my own).
I hope to post up my review of the game once I've experienced more of the on-line matchmaking modes but for now it's back to the fight!
I was hoping to get my hands on the Halo 3 Legendary edition tomorrow when the game is officially released but my online supplier has "kindly" informed me that my preorder will not be met and the order has now been cancelled.
Although it's not the end of the world I was looking forward to the Legendary edition as it looked like something a bit special and not just an extra disc in a metal case like most "limited" editions. Instead I will just have to settle for the standard copy, or if I really want the metal case, the collectors edition. In the end though it isn't the packaging that matters but the game inside and hopefully it will live up to both the hype and my expectations from playing the beta version.
The D.I.Y renovations are now more or less complete and my life can once again start taking on some semblance of normality. Apologies for the lack of posts over the last couple of weeks but when there's no time to play games or catch up on the latest news then there's really no point in just posting "for the sake of it".
After this weekend the house should be back to normal and the 360 will be powered up once more. I've just picked up a copy of Stranglehold on the strength of the demo and I'll be playing through that time permitting.
In some game related news I noticed that the Nintendo Wii has now taken the lead in worldwide cumulative sales (source: Game Industry) from the Xbox 360 with some 9 million Wii consoles purchased compared to 8.9 million Xbox 360's and 3.7 million PS3's. It's an impressive stat considering it (Wii) has been on sale for only 9 months.
It's been a busy week for me so far. I'm on a leave of absence from my day job for a couple of weeks but instead of chilling out I'm in the middle of D.I.Y, the house is upside down, and there's no relaxing allowed. Thus I've not had any time to play games, demos or catch up on gaming news this week.
I managed to finish Bioshock last weekend and I will post up some in depth thoughts on that in due course. In my book this is one of the best games I've played in a long time and in some ways I was saddened to finally complete the game and bring the grand adventure to a close. However, looking ahead there are some bright gems on the horizon such as Halo 3, Mass Effect and PGR4 that should provide a fix for my gaming addiction.
I was getting a bit worried about my Xbox 360 that I'd sent back to Microsoft (three flashing red lights!) a few weeks ago. It had been 17 days since it was picked up by UPS and I'd not heard a peep from Microsoft support to confirm they'd received the console or if it had now been fixed. I was therefore resigning myself to the fact that it was going to take the full 25 days as estimated to either get it repaired or replaced.
To my surprise I returned home today after work to find a UPS delivery notification stating that they'd left a package with my neighbour. Without delay I rushed next door to pick it up.
It was indeed an Xbox 360, not my original but a replacement. The cover letter reads:
"So you can get back to playing and enjoying your Xbox quicker, we have replaced your Xbox console with a replacement unit."If it takes 17 days to "replace" a unit I'm glad they decided not to fix it or else it may have been gone for a very long time.
My Xbox 360 finally died on me at the weekend. It has been playing up for the past week and had frozen a few times whilst playing games so I had an inclination that all was not well. On Friday evening I finally got the three red lights of doom, fortunately the extended warranty is now in effect so I gave Microsoft Support a ring on Saturday morning.
After a 58 minute wait on hold and after about the one hundredth time of hearing the words: "Please remain on the line and a support representative will be with you as soon as possible. Thankyou for your patience." I finally managed to speak to a representative.
A few questions about the console followed (serial number etc) and I eventually got the option of having the UPS labels sent by post or by email. Initially I said I wanted them by post but as soon as I found out that it can take up to five days to get them I promptly changed my mind to email. At this stage I needed to change my Xbox Live email address so I gave the representative my new details and to my amusement the representative said he would have to write them down as the system had just crashed. I asked him if there were "three flashing red lights" displayed on the front of his PC but I don't think he was too amused with the quip.
My console is scheduled to be picked up tomorrow and there's currently about a 15 - 25 day turnaround for repairs (i.e. get a refurbished one sent back). I've had the console since the UK launch and I honestly thought I'd escaped the abysmal reliability problems but alas that was not to be. During my 360's downtime I will continue to post news but unfortunately trial and demo impressions will have to wait until I get the console back. On the up side I should now have the time to play a few of my back catalog of games for other platforms that have built up over the last year and I hope to post reviews as appropriate.
I like it!
