Cigol

When they released trophies for the PS3 version I thought I'd be compelled to go through it again, but no. Starting up the first mission I got my first trophy and then bam, couldn't be bothered. Probably too soon to replay it, but I always enjoy going back to Vice City and San Andreas so I dunno.

That's pretty amazing I think you can occasionally see the string's attached to the ship, am I wrong?

I use WPA-PSK on my PS3 with no problems, are sure it's not just your router and some sort of incompatibility? I hate wireless anyway, it's so unpredictable and bloody annoying to setup sometimes. My laptop works for everyone else but whenever I pick it up it suddenly decides to crap out on me. I don't understand it - I've resorted to carrying around those plugs you can stick ethernet cables in.

The only time that really annoyed me was when it had to replay the animation routine of the person you were supposed to be following.

I think I just creamed my pants in excitement.

It sounds so upbeat and oriental

How cool is this teaser film; crikey!

Burnout Paradise made $600,000 on PSN... that was selling for a premium in the UK too, £24 for a game that was released nearly a year ago and was actually cheaper in the shops - Burnout Paradise was hardly an AAA game. It's even more impressive when you consider the lower install base of the PS3. I mean it's not like anyone needed reminding of the potential for digital distribution (hello iTunes) but surely this is it?

I subscribe to the radio show on iTunes. He has had some good co-hosts on there like Alan Carr for example, but when David Baddiel was on (and hogging the air waves talking about how famous he is ) I remember he brought up Satans Sluts in a suggestive way they both laughed over. Not as crass and unfunny as the prank call admittedly, and she wasn't named personally, but it's not like this is the first incident. I'm not sure Baddiel is paid millions by the BBC though.

Lovefilm sent me this instead of Valkyria Chronicles, which I'm sort of glad for as I went out and bought that instead. I'm a fan of the original Midnight Club (precisely because it was fun just cruising around) and things started well in this new version but where's the damage model? It's a bit lacking after playing Burnout Paradise. The graphics are nice, and in contrast to GTA4 (on the PS3) clean, sharp and smooth. But I have to say I'm a bit bored with the whole Need for Speed, Test Drive Unlimited, Burnout Paradise model, so now there's a Rockstar equivalent (that I think probably started the genre off?) what's it got new to offer... and from my quick play through not much?

Metal Gear Solid has memorable music all around, at least for me - and nowhere is that more palpable than in MGS4 when it tugs at your nostalgia strings.

You're not wrong. Also did anyone else see Kotaku's thing on Fallout 3's beards? When I saw the selection, and the quality, I had to say I was impressed as well. Although more in a 'wtf, lolz' kind of way.

Well I picked this up the other night and it's all kinds of awesome. Anyone who remotely enjoyed the demo should love this. I feared the main game would be pretty empty - a series of loosely connected and simple battles - but from my time with the game I'd say it's the opposite. Following on from my last post; whilst there are no difficulty settings in the main game the challenge is much greater than that of the skirmish in the demo. It can actually be a little tricky, particularly as characters die permanent deaths. The AI is admittedly pretty banal but like I mentioned earlier it's not something that diminishes the experience, and in spite of this they still pose a threat. I've only played the introductory half of the game so far but in a nice touch it unfolds as the recounting of an old story and has been chock full of cut-scenes and talking heads dialogue. I'm willing to bet the light, fluffy and anime generic style isn't to everyone's tastes, and I'm also going to wager there's a number of people who think cut-scenes died with Half-Life - but I like them, lots. They lend gravitas to the battles, and make them appear consequential as opposed to the main portion of the game, which they really are. Mostly they're just so damn pretty. ...that said, some interactivity in these interludes would have been welcome. Instead of watching a character run towards a house for example let us run towards the house and then switch to the cut-scene. It seems like a missed opportunity to add some (real-time) variety outside of the battle sequences - I mean it uses the same engine so why not? The game could flow a little better as well. Instead of full screen animations of people yahoo'ing the death of a bad guy why not stick it on a pip overlay and let us get on with the game. The zooming and rotation in and out of the real time mode can get annoying as well, sure it's nice the first few times but not for long. I'm a little disappointed there's no multiplayer or trophies implemented as well, as there's no doubt it would have made the game a more attractive purchase. I would recommend playing the demo and seeing for yourself. The full game is obviously a more fleshed out experience, and as I said; more challenging, but it'll give you an idea of what to expect and if you enjoy the game mechanics you'll know the full version is worth picking up or not. I'm loving it.

Well, it works. No surprises there as voice recognition is hardly new - but they have implemented it directly into the game so you can do some nifty stuff. It's a fun way of playing (again; see Silent Hunter ), but the game itself wasn't very inspiring. I didn't like the viewpoint or the presentation - it was just too dull and cluttered at a glance. I would have thought they'd make it completely painless so you just start it up and BAM you're in the game playing rock/paper/scissors style combat (which online, as Wrestle said, is potentially very cool). I only gave it ten or fifteen minutes in skirmish mode, if the singleplayer is the same as that I can't see me enjoying it - but online might be a laugh.

Played the demo, not bad at all. I died about several hundred million times and there were at least two places I got completely stumped, but it's a nice game. Graphics, style and the first person movement and interaction with the world seems just 'right'. The way both hands come up to push up against a fence for example but individually drop depending on what way you turn/look. It's all very Matrix'y, running around and smashing open doors open at full speed. Whether the gameplay is varied enough over the course of the full game, who knows, but the demo is promising. I am the owner of the 'bound to disappoint' and 'hype' tags, so this was a surprise.

If you like RPG's and you aren't repulsed by Oblivion (which is an epidemic on the internet) then Fallout 3 is a must have title. Far Cry 2 tried to do something and for the most part 'failed'. Fallout 3 didn't try to do anything, it built upon the success of its predecessor - and that's why it's constantly compared to Oblivion. A lot of Fallout fans will disagree with me but I think they've done enough to satisfy the license. Having played it some more I'm liking the approach to hacking computers. It's fun working out what the password is and I'm guessing the difficulty is dictated by your skills in the relevant areas. I thought it was a neat if superfluous addition anyway The sound engine is pretty lame on my end. I have a pretty expensive sound-card so I didn't expect to hear everything coming from the second floor as if it were on the first floor. Not a gamebreaker, but jarring. That party would have worked (as in, been frikking cool) if there was proper sound dynamics in play.

It's not that I don't appreciate the advances but rather expect them from an RPG, let alone one bearing the Fallout license. Placed under a microscope I'll happily acknowledge and applaud those improvements but it's easy to get sidetracked when other deficiencies (like combat AI) are stealing the limelight. That said, the dialogue is a lot better than in Oblivion.

Difficulty spike quit?

I honestly thought my post was pretty upbeat about Fallout 3, but I guess I'm coming at it from a different angle to you guys - I also perhaps didn't place enough emphasis on the parts where I said I actually like it, because rest assured I'm enjoying the game. My post was just using colourful language to draw attention to its flaws, and I don't think I was harsh in doing so either. This is essentially Oblivion MkII so improvements to the dialogue system for example are par for the course (I mean, they couldn't have made it any worse could they). Stuff like that isn't a bonus to me, it's a necessity. It wouldn't be a Fallout game without dialogue or choices so I personally don't see it as a great achievement. Did you just run away from Vault security personnel? I had to kill about 4 or 5 people to escape in the beginning - and I'm colloquially referred to as a goody two shoes so it's not like I'm going in guns blazing. Sure you can talk your way out of some encounters, as I said it's a 'Fallout' game after all, but it's still heavily combat orientated as a game from what I've played so far. It sounds like you've played more than me though so maybe it gets better as it progresses?(EDIT: God damnit, I accidentally edited this post instead of replying to it. Just restored to its original state. -Chris)

I'm going to let you in on a little insider secret; it's Oblivion with guns! ...only, not in a good way. The combat is pants, the movement is shitty and the exploration is dull - the engine is clunky and ill-suited to enjoying exploring the world. That said I likes it. The opening is also sort of faithful in tone to the original Fallouts, my only problem would be that like Oblivion you're expected to shoot your way to the end of the game and speechcraft will only get you so far. I like that if you stand completely still it evokes all those concept images, the trouble is when you start moving (especially in third person) or interact with other people or enemies it's clearly still Oblivion with it's super shitty animation system. I mean, really fucking shitty. Battles are surprisingly faithful to the original 90's Fallout. The VAT's system works - and believe me you'll use it because normal combat is depressingly bad - but the biggest similarity comes in how all the enemies run mindlessly towards you (which was, curiously, how Oblivion handled things as well, hmm). Heh. Whatever. I'm not impressed by combat one bit. They gave us a first person perspective and they completely wasted it on psuedo-turn based combat against dumb enemies. How's that for a mindfuck. I suppose it was easier for them to sidestep combat AI in a post apocalyptic world and just water it down into a shooting gallery - right? [/cynicism] Oh of course not - it was obviously a homage to the originals... The start of the game is the highlight so far, the rest of it is very Oblivion'ish. I suppose if you liked Oblivion (which I did) that's fair enough, if you loved the original Fallouts and wanted a worthy successor however (which I again did) it's too fucking bad because this isn't it.

Another nice podcast I've played nearly 5 hours of Far Cry 2 and all I've been doing is the gun dealers side-missions. I even had a similar experience to yours whilst driving and looking at the map as well, only when I looked up I found myself careering into the uprights of a bridge and ended up lodged between them. Despite being seemingly banal when put under a microscope it was actually a pretty cool 'moment'. If the game was opened up to modders that would help - as it does need fleshing out and fixing up in certain areas. ...and I guess we can add Uncharted to the list of games you guys haven't played. [and before you jump on my throat, that's a joke!]

Went into several stores this week and came out both sullen and empty handed. My life, such as it is, won't be complete until I own the game ...and apparently they are already working on the sequel. Which is, interesting.

It's actually an old skin that was selectable on the first day of its release. I had hoped it would be a more substantial spin off to take advantage of it but no matter, there is always Left 4 Dead.

Ignoring the hyperbole regarding how good it is this review sort of echoes my feelings on the game; http://www.computerandvideo games.com/article.php?id=198874 All of Vimes complaints I would concur with, except I think the lighting during daytime is to be expected and found it consistently pretty to look at any time of the day (at least on the very highest settings).

T'is a good game, could have been great though... You'll go through a phase, or at least I did, of finding the setup completely infuriating. Here's this picturesque sandbox of fun *but* (and here's the kicker) drained of life and intrigue! All of the 'locations' in the game are fairly mundane and the paths between them littered with (the now infamous) checkpoints. The sole purpose of these is to annoy you as you pass them by, one by one - each and every time. But it's ridiculous because there's no difficulty involved. You stop the car, gun them down and after this 30 second interval you're on your merry way (at least until the next checkpoint). Lots of travelling, combined with lots of these checkpoints is a baaaad combination. Who thought it would be good? I mean, seriously. I actually enjoy driving around (especially off road) and the beautiful scenery makes it worthwhile but having to stop and start to kill people willy-nilly and so effortlessly does grate after a while. I can only play one or two missions before finding the desire to continue waning. It's not the distance, I've played (and, enjoyed) truck simulators (!) it's the annoyingly pointless checkpoints. There's no reason or rhyme to the combat - I think that makes it worse. It's like a hoop you have to jump through, but nobody has told you why and nobody is around to ask. I'd much rather get into a fight with these people for a reason. It just seems to me you walk around, stumble upon some people, get shot at and then shoot back. Okay it's a war zone but what do I have, a big fucking neon sign hovering above my head saying 'SHOOT ME'? It's a good game and I think it'll go down better on the console where that kind of straight laced gameplay is more acceptable, but I was expecting something like STALKER crossed with Crysis and hell it could have been - I mean, why not? It has all the fancy boxes checked, but did they not have any time to flesh it out or something? Whereas Crysis wasted it's sandbox engine with a linear format, and was a boring by the numbers affair, FarCry has a touch of the Assassins Creed about it - repetitive, but oh so fun to just trudge around in for half-an-hour. On all three counts I lament the way they failed to live up to my lofty expectations Still, I think it's fun. That's the main thing. I liked Mercenaries 2 though, and Euro Truck Simulator so your mileage may vary.