Wrestlevania

If you like that, you may also like indie title Chalk for the PC (which, interestingly, was released just before Crayon Physics earlier this year).

What crazy talk is this?!

Me also, and a great set of matches we had too (even if I do typically stink at it currently).

Curse my haste in posting--that's a much better term than "buffs".

Balance I suppose, mainly, is the big deal. Also level design. The environments are as varied as any modern setting you could imagine, whether it's a bombed Middle Eastern city block or a hastily abandoned truck yard. And if it sounds like Counter-Strike, that's because - from a very broad standpoint - it is. But, as with any great game, it's the subtleties that make it stand out. The replay camera for instance is genius and immediately dismisses any 'grubbing' about how unfairly you got killed (perceived lag issues not withstanding). Weapons feel really good too--tangible and vicious, unlike Counter-Strike's neutered pop guns. And the rewards for killing streaks are great fun too; if your team quickly kills a few enemies in a row, they can call in a tactical drone to sweep the area and show every enemy on your minimap. Which makes for some frenetic 'rush' gameplay, whether you're attacking or defending. If you team continues to score well, you are given tokens to call in air strikes or a sweep from a friendly helicopter gunship, which circles the battlefield, spraying encamped enemies with hot lead from above. You don't have to use these tokens immediately though; you can save them up and use them perhaps when the battle suddenly swings in the opposition's favour and you need a leg-up. Or, if you're coming to the end of a round and want to cement your lead, you can use your tokens to try to keep the enemy at arm's length. What's fun for the defending side is that you can still get around these bonuses. You can all flee the area that might be getting pounded by an airstrike and surprise the attacking team, who're likely standing about gloating more than not. Also, get your hands on an RPG or enough ammo and you can actually blow that patrolling enemy helicopter gunship out of the sky -- which scared the shit out of the opposing team when we managed to do that in one match! It's really fun for everyone I think and makes matches better paced and more worthwhile overall. Not once did I come away from a match in the beta and feel like I'd just wasted 15 frustrating minutes when I could've been playing something else -- I immediately wanted a rematch! And I've not even mentioned about levelling up your soldier, or the dozens of unlockable buffs such as being able to shoot through walls, or the ability to live on for a few seconds after you've been "killed", lying on the floor clutching your guts and brandishing a pistol. It's ace.

It was just an off-the-cuff example of context-sensitive design in general, not an absolute solution. And, although you make some good points, I still think it could be rationalised further given enough test cases. I really want to design games for a living... :\

If you pressed up against a wall, you'd flatten against it; in front of a door, you'd go through it; in front of a switch, you'd operate it. There's absolutely no need to have individual button presses for each of these -- it's needless and infuriating. And, as you pick up new abilities, you can augment your actions using new button combinations then. I'm not saying it's a bad game, I'm saying the control system could be better and more fluid.

When can we expect to see you thesis???

Not a plant, but a friend of mine I met on another (lesser) gaming forum. Been bullying him into posting for weeks now and he finally did. We co-author that second blog in my signature, too.

Ah, at last the Gash decloaks! But you neglected to mention how even just one-on-one the multiplayer is a treat! I feel used and dirty... Anyway, why are people bashing the single-player experience? OK, it's largely based on triggers - especially for the "against the clock" stuff - but it's tightly done and completely believable in my opinion. Whilst it's still "only a game" the Call of Duty series has always tried harder than most to make you feel like you're actually in a very unpleasant war zone. To this end, they punish players who just sit idly and try to kill every single enemy, as they might in other similar FPS games, before ambling off to the next area. Instead, they just keep throwing enemies at you until you move. You can still be strategic in this, maybe calling in an air strike to clear the way before charging through. But the missions are quite varied and therefore so are the tactics required. I really, really liked the single-player experience in Call of Duty 4. The intro (I mean, fucking hell, the intro!!!), the settings, the characterisations, the wide variety of weaponry and tactics, the mission variety, the pacing, the brutal anti-climaxes... It's genuinely and consistently brilliant throughout and I was sad when it ended. I've not tried multiplayer since the beta (except for my one-on-one's with El Gash), but that was superb even back then. I personally don't mind the ranking system being used to limit equipment and armament choices at first. And it's such a short time before you breach it (unless you're Dog-awful at the game I suppose) that it's really a non-issue if you ask me. Just nit-picking! Anyway, as far as I'm concerned Modern Combat craps all over Halo 3 as a package from quite some altitude. I'm just a little sad that many people won't actually stop gagging on Master Chief long enough to notice it.

Agreed, but then I wrote this after playing the demo several weeks ago: Please excuse me as I now wallow luxuriously in my own smug. Oh and I guess congratulations to Codemasters for releasing such a fair and accurate demo, too.

The poorly designed control systems saps the game of its graphical and aural charms if you ask me. I tried completing the first level a couple of times and gave up in frustration at having to remember the convoluted button presses required. This could easily be rectified with a context-sensitive - and therefore minimalist - control system. I want to like it, but can't as it is.

Heh, cute! He wasn't loading for me when I checked the page earlier.

Anyone realistically still using it? I thought it had bags of potential, but got incredibly pissed off with the people who setup up any one individual game page that I wanted to update ignoring my requests to do so. Meaning it was polluted with quite a lot of badly scrawled shit and missing lots of useful additional information. Update: Blimey, just logged in and checked 'My Games' -- I've not been to the site since before I got my 360. Going to add my current library, maybe add the missing Dreamcast titles (hopefully) and then reconsider what I think of it. Definitely still interested to read others' thoughts though, whether you've used it before or just looking around for the first time.

There's some definite potential in that I think. More flexible and interesting than the rather rigorous Xbox Gamercard application for Facebook...

Many happy returns, Lord Spafford.

“ ”

Interesting. I guessed it was because of the recent praise Remo (of Chris) gave Thumbs' text adventure forum in a very recent ShackCast. Just out of curiosity, care to name the magazine?

Come on, linky - you girl.

Really liked this: cute, succinct and easy to play.

God bless BBC Scotland then.

Interesting. I deliberately avoided Gaiden in the past, as the perceived baggage of airing on national television suggested Rab and Ryan's creative juices would be carefully distilled down to the blandly acceptable. Think I'll be hitting up the usual suspect sites for seasons 1 and 2 now though -- thanks for the tip-off, Rodi. Edit: *ahem*

Doesn't that mostly sum up the latest season though? I'm really sad that things haven't picked up yet, despite the flash of genius that was their Wii Fit interpretation. Not that a pair of nerdy Scotsmen repeatedly squatting on my face, wearing nothing but thong underpants and plastic bags over their heads, is a necessary mechanic for my own personal satisfaction, but you catch my drift (I hope)...

"Hey, fratty morons--now even you guys can play!" Mother fuckers. Too reasonably proportioned, evidently. Either that or perhaps Harmonix had rights to the characters and will have them in Rock Band? /uber-tenuous

Holy crap-in-a-hand-basket, how long's the new 'C' episode been out?!