The Armageddon Clause...

Red Faction Armageddon is here on our consoles and now gamers can get back onto a Red Faction game that is a lot more like the original games in the series. The graphics are wild and the storyline is gripping. the game looks awesome so far but of course is going to be absent the sandbox feature that Red Faction Guerrilla housed within its beatiful Mars setting. I will miss the sandbox feature as I am a massive fan of the genre, but this game looks like it is going to be a huge hit. Lets hope it does not get overshadowed by the Duke this week.

The 12-Year Wait...

Is now over, and I can honestly say that, after nearly 3 hours of gameplay, it was not worth the wait. So far I have found the graphics to be appalling - jagged like that of a PS1 game, the gameplay to be fast but inaccurate (especially whilst aiming), and the whole scenario where you are shrunk (please do not let there be more than one) is pathetic and really irritating. I did get bored of this game very fast and I do hope that they have done something more imaginative with the rest of the game.

L.A. No

I have recently finished playing L.A. Noire (well, around two weeks ago) and after 16 hours of gameplay I found myself completely under-whelmed. I found the driving to be completely boring, the cases started off exciting but after finding hundreds of pieces of evidence became very repetitive. I did want to complete the game to see how it ended, but again this was quite an obvious ending (if you have played Rockstars Red Dead Dedemption). I expected the death of Phelps upon loading the title for the first time as I thought that Rockstar may continue with this new trend set by their best selling western. The free-roam was the main reason I wanted to play this game and I did expect a lot more. Unfortunately, playing as a policeman meant that all you could do in free roam was "borrow" some terrible cars and walk/run around. There was no random crimes that you could get involved into and even the in-car calls were limited to 40. I found that the entire game was based around the new technology regarding facial expressions, and whilst this was 'quite good' it was not breathtaking. I played the game through storymode and most of the 40 side missions and once I finished the last storymode mission I turned it off with no intention to replay this title at any time in the foreseeable future. 4/10

Kool Kombat

I have recently finished the story mode in Mortal Kombat that was released for the XBOX 360 a week ago. I am amazed at how much they have actually improved the franchise and I am satisfied in saying that this has been the most enjoyable beat-em-ups that I have ever played. I found the characters more realistic and ultra-defined with the HD graphics. I found the sound to be superb, and the moves and combos are really a perfected format for a 2D fighter.
The fatalities are also really gruesome, but awesome at the same time. This game has got me hooked!
Also, the fact that it took me 3 hours to beat Shoa Kahn, well shows my patience but also shows that you really do not want to give up on the game once you are playing it. A victory at that stage was well worth the effort. The only downfall with the game is the inability to skip cuts scenes. not a problem when you are watching them for the first time, but if you happen to have had sleep inbetween playing sessions then you may have to sit through a 5 minute cut scene for a second time. Otherwise a fantastic game.

For the beat-em-up category 10/10, for a game overall 8/10. Good job!

Final Fantasy XIII Update

I would just like to say that at nearly 15 hours of gameplay I am still finding the same problems with the gameplay itself. I am not interested at all in the system of the game, but the storyline has evolved into a fantastic story which seems to be the only thing holding me to completing this game.

Fear The Future

An hours play of Metro 2033 and a day taken off of my life. So far the setting is gripping, intimidating and heavily Soviet...what more could you ask for? The game seems to appeal so far, but whether or not repetitiveness will set in is yet to be known. The HUD seems to work well with the surroundings; like that of Dead Space, and the graphics are just right for the game (verging on too weak but not quite there). After an hours play-time I look forward to seeing what the game has to offer.

Final Letdown XIII

So I am (around) halfway through Final Fantasy XIII with a total time of 10 hours and 36 minutes. I have just found out that the so-far extremely linear game will continue for the next 40-90 hours as there is no world map, no shops, no explorable globe of any kind. This was a massive letdown for me as being able to free roam was one of the greatest parts of the past Final Fantasy games. This joined with the fact of poorly developed characters that come across as more irritating than mysterious, the worst soundtrack of the Final Fantasy collection, shops that are in floating save points (harbouring millions of items in 'nothingness'), no primary enemy to work your way towards beating and sometimes the odd cutscene thrown in that seems completely pointless makes the game the worst of the series. I would not recommend this game to many people, unless you primarily enjoy the battle system.

A Divine Comedy

So I haven't updated my games blog for a while now, and I restart with my completion of Dante's Inferno. Well what can I say? What a game! This game does the poem credit, with great graphic imagery, fantastic characters, and a great plot. The cut scenes were some of the best graphics I have seen in a long time and getting the full 1000 points on this game was really enjoyable. The first hack n slash that was not repetitive. This game got 9/10 from me!

King of the Iron Fist Tournament 6

After just under ten hours I have bottomed-out Tekken 6! It was a fantastic game with achievements that both challenged you and gave you some fun. The last achievement of which I needed in single player was "Gallery Completionist," in which I completed last night by completing Arena Mode 38 times (once with each character - apart from Lars and Alisa) in just over 1 hour. I then continued my venture online to complete the multiplayer achievements.

Bustin' Makes Me Feel Good!

So I have slipped off the line of playing games for a while due to working hours and being over-tired. But I have now got a handful of new games to play, including Transformer: Revenge of the Fallen, Fight Night Round 4, Ghostbusters, Mass Effect and Terminator Salvation. I have only yet to play Ghostbusters (which is not released in my country for nearly five months, but due to the American and Canadian version being region-free I imported it!), and Terminator Salvation. Ghostbusters was an amazing ride through the first level, allowing me to unlock 120 gamerpoints instantly, and I am really looking forward to playing through the rest of the game (loads up 360 to honour this), but Terminator Salvation was surprisingly worse than the film itself. And as a Terminator Buff I can get away with saying this! I played around thirty minutes worth of gameplay and when the game crashed on me I used it as an excuse to stop gameplay. I may return to it for the supposed easy 1000GS, but otherwise, no thanks!

Virtua Insanity

So I got Virtua Tennis 2009 yesterday (2 days before the release) and I have to say I am a little disappointed. It has no touch on Top Spin 3, and I do not believe it is nearly as good as Virtua Tennis 3. It is lacking in shot types and skill and the controls are not very explanatory. Like...how the hell do you do an underarm serve? none-the-less I will strive to complete career mode. I have, however, unlocked 7 achievements already totalling 100 gamerpoints. So this may be a good run for me. I would also like to point out that the statistics that are post-match are still glitched like Virtua Tennis 3. Sometimes the total points are all added up onto the winners side or they are just completely wrong (for example winning a career match of 2 games without dropping a point should not equal 9 points...). Also "First Serve Percentage" would be more preferrable than "First Serves In."

Damn you all to heck!

Okay, one massive flaw in X-Men Origins: Wolverine that I have just found was...on the way to getting my achievement to 2000 kills (I was at or around 1400) I thought I would start a game on hard difficulty to get the achievements on that level difficulty at the same time. Little did I know that it would reset ALL of my statistics...back to WSC Real 09 I think...

Ultimate Wolfgang...

I completed X-Men Origins: Wolverine today...wow...what a game that was! It had incredible battles, amazing hack & slash skills and abilities and generally kept me glued to the screen for a long time! The greatest parts were probably the boss fights, although the standard levels were fantastic and very long (which kept me interested)! I am going to attempt to start playing on hard today, and to get some more of the achievement as I have unlocked 560 points from the game already.

Feral Rage

So I continued my venture at WSC Real 09 this morning and managed to win the China Open. Shortly after this I played around 40 minutes on X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Wow; what a rush! It has an intense game-play experience, with amazing combat moves and combination attacks. You learn new moves and abilities fast and the brutality is out of this world! If I had to be picky about the game I would criticize the sound - the SFX are brilliant but the voices are hard to hear unless you have the sound up amazingly high (my television has very loud speakers at 9% volume and this is usually enough, however I needed it at 39% to hear the voices clearly). Also the graphics are incredibly inconsistent. The game-play graphics are mediocre, while the cut-scene graphics were "okay;" however the cut-scene where upon Wolverine awakens from the operation to give him his Adamantium skeleton was so good I thought it was a cut from the film until I saw the face of Wolverine. Inconsistency is a little confusing when it comes to graphics and makes you ask a few questions as to why it is like that. Overall though it has been an amazing experience to play so far, with an incredible fight against Victor Creed (Sabretooth) in the first chapter of the game. My rating - 82%

Viva La Revolution

A massive day of gaminh and a massive 815 further points to my name after wiping the floor with Civilization Revolution. However there seemed to be a glitch as I have won with all cultures and have not got that achivement, nor "all famous people." but none-the-less I have slaughtered the game and upped my ranking (hopefully)
I also managed another achievement on WSC Real 09, and that was gaining the golden Cue championship. 20gs for what seemed like a lifetime of matches!

May The 4th Be With You...

Managed to score another 50gs on WSC Real 09 by completing all the trickshots! They were incredibly hard in some stages but making sure you keep an eye on the arrows from the cue ball development should see you through in around twenty minutes easily.
It is raining over here in the UK right now so I will have a great day of gaming lined up with me testing out some of the newer games on the market. Also, if I have time later on today, I will be boosting some easy achivements. At the time of writing this I am 3 frames to 1 down in the Welsh Open (Newport) Final in WSC Real 09, O'Sullivan is taking no prisoners! May the 4th be with me...

Maximum Break!

So I finally did it - the 147 Break in WSC Real 09! A whopping 50gs to my name! 15 reds, followed by 15 blacks and then the 6 remaining colours...it was well worth it!

My advice for anyone trying to get this achievement is just to NOT play safe when you are on the roll of getting it, and ALWAYS try for the difficult pot. The key thing is to remember that cue ball position is vital.

20 Points Clear

Okay, I have played a little since I finished my shift and have merely obtained a measly 20 gamerpoints from WSC Real 09. Nevermind though, I am closer to a handful of achievements from the game, I only need complete another three tournaments to get some (I believe). I am still yet to attack Civilization Revolution and have not had a chance to tryout the new X-Men game, but I have three days off after tomorrow so hopefully a gaming marathon will move me up the rankings!

WolfgangDZ - Uncaged Edition

So I have now acquired a copy of X-men Origins - Wolverine: Uncaged Edition, and after today's shift at work may either play some more WSC Real 09 or try this baby out! I am not usually a fanboy of movie games but this one caught my eye...an 18 rating, looks like pretty cool graphics, and developed by Activision...not too much can go wrong huh? Well, we will see shortly. After The Chronicles of Riddick severely letting me down (I am a massive fan of the films) I am unsure whether to trust my instincts again...the feral instincts of the Wolfgang!

Failed 147-Break (Again...)

So again I was on for the 147-break achievement on WSC Real 09 and after I had potted 13 reds and 13 blacks I managed to miss one of the easiest pots on the 14th red ball. Well, that was a real bummer! This is the third time I have thought that the achievement was in the bag (or pocket) and again I walk home with a broken cue and a broken heart...sob. None-the-less I will attempt this again later.

No more achievements to speak of as of yet, but there will be a massive boost happening shortly I am sure!