Game Update (19th November)

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.

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Word Puzzle / ScrewJumper

There were a couple of new releases on Xbox Live Arcade this week, namely Word Puzzle and ScrewJumper. Each title will set you back 800 Microsoft Points.

Word Puzzle

Word Puzzle is based upon word searches, the kind that seem to be popular in puzzle magazines, whereby the player is given a grid made up of seemingly random letters with a list of words to be found either horizontally, vertically or diagonally on the grid. To make it more difficult it's possible that the word may be reversed, or a multi-dimensional grid employed to force the player to spin the grid in order to locate the word.

The gameplay isn't complex and it's therefore easy to pick up and play. To enliven the game the developers have thrown a few extra things into the mix, such as word combos, and pretty backgrounds. The trial lets you try out the "Arcade" and "Survival" modes for a limited time and all in all this is quite a decent puzzle game to add to the Xbox Live roster. However, 800 Microsoft points is a bit too steep a price in my opinion.

ScrewJumper

The other game released on Wednesday was "Screwjumper". Players must choose a character and free-fall into various structures diving through platforms at velocity to destroy them (green objects) whilst avoiding or destroying hazards (red objects).

The destruction of the reactor core at the end of the free fall is the primary objective. If enough objects have been destroyed on the way down then the reactor will have no shielding, leaving it exposed and vulnerable. Before the reactor explodes you must escape by jetting back up the structure, once again avoiding the hazards.

The game doesn't look great, but I can forgive this if it's both playable and fun but unfortunately ScrewJumper is lacking in both departments. Not only are there problems controlling the character whilst in free fall, but the aiming reticle used to lob your sticks of dynamite at hazards is just as bad to use.

After a couple of attempts to get into the game I decided that this certainly wasn't something I would consider purchasing.

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Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Demo

I gave the Guitar Hero III demo that's available on Xbox Live Marketplace a run through yesterday in preparation for the UK release later this month on the 23rd. The demo offers five different songs to try your guitar thrashing skills on including "Lay Down", "Rock You Like a Hurricane", "Even Flow", "Hit Me with Your Best Shot", and "The Metal".

Apart from "Even Flow" by Pearl Jam I'm not familiar with the other tracks, but I found them all enjoyable enough to play though and thought they provided a good example of the different styles of music that would be available in the final release.

The fundamentals of the game remain unchanged, adopting the "if it ain't broke, why fix it attitude". And to be honest I can't really see how they could, or would want to change the core gameplay to make it much better. Players still hit notes and play chords as they scroll down the virtual guitar neck using the five "fret" buttons and "strum bar" on the guitar controller. Your performance is measured via a "rock" meter varying in colour from red (poor) to green (good) and if you miss too many notes in a row then apart from being greeted by the jeers and booing of the audience you will also find the "Song Failed" message staring you in the eyes.

The demo includes a comprehensive tutorial on how to play the game covering the basics and advanced techniques, and is well worth a look if you're new to the series. The tutorials also explain how the "battle mode" works, which is a new mode introduced this time around for "boss" battles and player vs player.

All in all the game is shaping up quite nicely and I'm looking forward to the retail release version as not only does it provide a lot of fresh new tracks to try out, but also I'm afraid I just can't resist that new wireless "Gibson Les Paul" guitar controller.

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Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Impressions

Last Friday saw the release of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, the eagerly anticipated first person shooter from Infinity Ward. I've spent sometime over the weekend playing the game and I completed the single player campaign yesterday. Now before you start thinking "This guy's got too much time on his hands", it must be stressed that the single player game doesn't last that long at all (maybe 6 hours) and can easily be finished in a few days or in one session if so inclined.

Although the single player game is undeniably short it provides a fun and enthralling experience with some very intense moments when all hell breaks loose on the battlefield. I don't think the single player game is breaking any new ground in terms of game mechanics, it's all very familiar, but what "Infinity Ward", and thus the game, excels at is providing an experience that fully immerses you in a war zone and makes you feel part of a gigantic war effort.

The game does provide an overall storyline and I was very impressed by the use of the in-game engine to relate key events, especially when viewed through the first person perspective of a character. Ever since the first trailers appeared and the game was demonstrated the graphics engine has been lauded. And it certainly doesn't disappoint with some truly glorious visuals that surely must rank as some of the best seen on the Xbox 360 to date.

On a final note, I've yet to try out the multi-player game modes but I hope to give these a shot over the next few weeks.

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Need for Speed: ProStreet Demo

It's approaching that time of year again where one should try and be kinder to their fellow man or woman, turkeys are gazing nervously at the farmer and a new "Need for Speed" title, in this case ProStreet, is about to be unleashed upon the masses.

Ahead of its release later this month you can sample the demo which is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace at a pretty decent download size of 655MB.

The demo lets you try out two game modes, each one with a different track and preset car. "Nevada Highway" is a straightforward speed challenge whereby you, and seven other competitors, have to pass through four speed checkpoints as fast as possible with the winner being the player with the highest cumulative speed total. The other track on offer is "A-54 Interloop" which is a standard two lap race around a street circuit.

When you've selected your race you're taken to the race day menu, which just seems to show some of the car entrants for the race with various people wandering about fawning over the cars but with no real interaction from the player. All you can really do is start the race and I hope the final release utilises this menu screen a bit better.

To help the player you can choose from three levels of driver assists before the race starts (casual, racer or king). "Casual" helps the player by managing the braking with some adjustments to find the best racing line, whilst "King" leaves the driving to the player.

Personally I preferred setting the assistance level to "King" as I found that the other two levels, especially the first, interfered far too much with the driving experience and it just didn't feel right.

Visually the game looks pretty good at this stage and should be able to hold its own against most of the 360 racers out there although it's hard to tell from the demo tracks whether it will be top-of-the-class. For me the "A54 Interloop" track was the better of the two available as the Nevada Highway was mainly a series of straights, which is fine for a speed test but doesn't really present much of a challenge.

If you're into the "Need for Speed" franchise then it's worth trying out the demo as a taster of things to come but with so many quality racing titles already available for the 360 we'll have to wait and see what this offers compared to its competitors as the demo doesn't really give much away.

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Super Stardust HD Review

Every now and again I get the urge to play a decent old school style shooter that can provide a good gaming fix when you've only got limited time to spare. I'd heard that Super Stardust HD on the PS3 was a good classic style shooter and once I'd sorted out my credit card with the PlayStation Network, promptly downloaded it.

The game is very straightforward and at its heart this is similar to the classic Asteroids but with a 21st Century spin to provide fast and frenetic gameplay with the simple aim of destroying anything that moves. The player controls a spacecraft in orbit over a planet using one joystick for movement and the other for directional fire, similar to Robotron or Geometry Wars. However, unlike the aforementioned classics you're not based on one 2D plane but on the curved plane of the planet you're orbiting.

Your ship comes armed with three different types of primary weapon, namely the "Rock Crusher", "Gold Melter" or "Ice Splitter" which are selected via the "L1" and "R1" shoulder buttons. Each weapon is not only more suited to certain asteroids and enemies, but slightly different in nature. For example the "Gold Melter", a beam like burst of fire is more appropriately used against "Gold" asteroids whilst the "Rock Crusher" is best against standard asteroids but provides great fire dispersion.

Although it's not essential to use the correct weapon type it certainly makes life easier and thus less likely you'll be swamped with hundreds of asteroid fragments floating around the planet surface and your ship crushed between a rock and the proverbial hard-place.

Certain asteroids contain glowing green cores and when destroyed will leave various power ups to collect such as extra lives, shields or weapon upgrades. Power-ups gradually degrade over time and when left uncollected eventually deteriorate to bonus points.

The game is split into a series of five planets, with each planet separated into five phases culminating with a boss encounter. Each planet gets progressively more difficult and soon the planet atmosphere is swarming with asteroids and enemies to avoid. In the event of an emergency you have a limited number of "bombs" which can be used to clear the immediate area or alternatively a "boost" facility which is unlimited but takes a a few vital seconds to recharge.

The game is gorgeous to behold featuring some great explosions and special effects with some catchy background music tracks which take me back to some of the classic shooters that appeared on the Amiga in the days of yore. Super Stardust HD has all the qualities of a great shooter and at its core is a very playable game that is easy to pick up and play yet hard to master. The game not only provides a great experience but is exceptionally good value at only 4.99 GBP.

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Friday Game Update (2nd Nov)

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.

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