lost in games

I finally started playing Mass Effect a few days ago. About 5 hours into the game and i have some mixed feelings about it. Things started to go wrong from the start.

Let me explain. When choosing your character’s class you are given 6 options. But after reading some reviews and listening to podcasts it was clear to me that apart from the Soldier and Vanguard classes the other 4 were somewhat broken. It made finishing the game from normal to extremely difficult and frustrating. To be honest if i had not known about this i would have chosen either the Engineer or the Infiltrator. Instead i chose the Soldier. I find it incredible that a role playing game can miss the balance of classes so much so that it makes the game harder instead of just having a different experience.

Once i made the remaining choices in my profile off i went to be finally impressed. I love the dialog tree from Bioware and although not revolutionary it is a great touch combined with the fact that what you choose is the basic context of your conversation and not the exact words. It makes the whole conversation feel more real.

But then there is the actual combat. It feels clumsy and so very gamey. While it is a nice touch to have to use cover, when shooting the controls feel imprecise. Plus, the AI of my squadmates is ridiculous. They keep dying on me and even though i place them in safe poistions, they keep moving on their own and getting killed in the process. Worrying about them takes more of my time than the actually killing of the bad guys.

Then you have your technical issues with the frame drop being an issue throughout the game and the pop ups especially just after a screen has been loaded. I mean come on Bioware…

My last grievance has to be the inventory system. This is one of the most unfriendly RPG inventories i have encountered. I usually like to mess around with the equipment or other items i pick up but to be honest in Mass Effect i hesitate to enter the menus because i have to scroll through all the items i have, even when in dublicate, to find what i want. In addition visually the difference between equipment is not the most accessible it could have been. I am not sure whether it’s the colour or the way these are presented but it just not user friendly.

I might be giving the impression that i am not enjoying Mass Effect. On the contrary, i am enjoying it but when compared to other titles this year (well of 2007) , Mass Effect is doing so many things wrong. I can not accept that it is because it is so ambitious.

Having a decent AI is ambitious? A simple, easy to use inventory is ambitious? An RPG which is restricting your choice of characters due to the inconsistency of difficulty is because of its ambitions? Bad impressions indeed.

Before i begin my impressions on the new iteration of the Silent Hill series which recently came out on the PSP, let me just tell you that my only previous experience with this game was the original Silent Hill on the PSone. In fact i finished the game with a friend, while in university, twice in 2 days. Since then i have not seen nor played a Sillent Hill game.

Until of course Origins came out on the PSP. My first reaction and of course the reaction of anyone who knows what Silent Hill is all about, is does it work? Can the horror games genre possibly work on a portable gaming device? The answer is both yes and no.

This is not a game to be played on buses, planes or while your family is visiting your grandparents. Once you insert the UMD disc you receive a recommendation from the developers. The game is best experienced with the lights off and headphones on.

Immersion is key.

And Origins is great at that. Once you follow the developer’s recommendation you will be lost in the world of Silent Hill and it works. The use of the lighting effects, grainy graphics and sound are effective and create the vital atmosphere which is the whole essence of a horror game. If you are a fan then you will love this.

So far this is honestly the main positive thing i have to say about the game.

The combat is clumsy with melee weapons disappearing from one’s hand once they have been used a few times. How can a wrench be destroyed? Too often you will get hit by an enemy cause your character was too slow or just a little bit further away to hit anything. There is locking system which helps but it slows the character’s movement. All too often i found myself cursing the controls while watching the game over screen. Maybe the game wants to empasize that your character, Travis, is an ordinary guy and has some basic combat skills. Maybe.

What is even worse than the combat is the camera angle. I am about 3-4 hours into the game and i have encountered a lot of situations where i simply could not see where i was going or where my enemies were coming from. In fact you will find yourself locking and shooting at enemies which are are not on your screen. You are guided by the sound they are making. The game’s camera is simply poor.

Silent Hill also has its puzzles which vary. You have your run of the mill “emblem” or “sign” on the door then find the key, to figuring out the combination of a lock based on the clues you have uncovered. They are fine but to be honest i usually don’t actually know what i am looking for and where to find it until i stumble upon it. This can leave you wondering around trying to find out what you are supposed to do next.

As for the story you start off with you almost hitting a girl with your truck and then you go off to Silent Hill trying to figure out what is going on with her. So far the feed of information has not been great but you still get an idea of where this is going. Typical Silent Hill plot. And this is not a complaint. Just stating a fact.

Don’t get me wrong. It is a very interesting game and certainly unique on a portable console. But what it offers in atmosphere i think it lacks in terms of gameplay. At least so far.

Memoirs of Giapanta Zolos
Atletico Madrid manager since 1 June 2007

After 20 matches i am in 4th position but barely, as there are 5 more teams really close to me while the third placed team Valencia are 5 points clear. Real Madrid (managed by El Rey Kokanza) is leading the title chase with Barcelona while Sevilla (managed by Bastian Tsangos) is 7th just 2 points behind me.

My Uefa Cup run is going really well managing to finish top of my group and now facing Empoli in the last 32 teams phase. If i go through i will probably be facing Werder Bremen once again (also faced them in Bremen in a fantastic 2-2 match in the group stage).

I have been busy in the January transfer market bringing a defensive midfielder and a defender. But alas, as soon as my expensive (13.5million) DMF signing played a couple of games, he went off to play for Cameroon in the African Nations Cup. And it looks like Cameroon is going through to the next stage. GRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!

It has been a tremendous season so far. But not without its hiccups. I have some complaints about the game.

1. Disallowed goals - In almost every match a goal is scored where the striker was either in an offside position or a foul was committed and the goal was disallowed. In almost every game! In real life this does not happen that often and it is really annoying.

2. Inconsistency - Match difficulty can be fairly inconsistent in the sense that you win games where you wouldn’t not expect to win while lose games you really shouldn’t. For example Athl. Madrid have the second best away record while having the 17th best home record. And every time a team visits Vincente Calderon there is a constant wave of attacks and pressure from the away team. It just does not make any sense me.

Despite some grievances however this is a brilliant game. And having two more human players to interact with takes it to another level.

Did i mention that Arsene Wenger feels that we could be friends?

Just started a session with 2 of my friends on FM2008. One room, three managers, three laptops, three teams, one game!

Its not everyday that we manage to find the time to squeeze in enough hours in our calendar for every football fan’s dream game. But it’s the holidays and things are on our side. Started the session today in Spain’s first division. My friends got Seville and Real Madrid while i am managing Athletico Madrid as you can see from the title….

The team has some great midfielders like Simao and Maxi Rodriguez while in front it is Forlan and Aguero. The defence is the weak line but i have not been able to attract any good signings to strengthen it.

Now here is the plan.

Short passing, quick pace and attack minded. The Arsenal way. The best defence is a strong offence.

I love this game!

I played my first game yesterday. To say that i had no idea what was going on and what i was supposed to do would be an understatement. Simply put, the game does not have a very user friendly interface or a Civilopedia kind of feature. Fortunately Bill Harris at Dubious Quality has some detailed playthrough posts for gamers first try with the game. It helps you understand firstly the interface, then the units and then how it all plays together. You should play your first session while reading this - click here.

In any case i choose the Humans and whithin 45mins my unguarded HQ was captures by the Xenopods. Didn’t really understand the battle mechanism, i mean how it all works out.

It definitely has an element of luck due to the dice rolls for most events and also at the start of the turn to decide which faction goes first and how many action points each faction has available to play in that turn. However, you do have some important decisions to make like sacrificing resources (which you use to build units) to increase your chances of getting a higher roll and therefore more action points to use during your turn.

One of the most interesting aspects of the game is that you a very limited amount of resources and units at your disposal. This creates a connection with your units and makes every decision you make even more critical.

Right now i am in my second game (again chose the Humans), and was doing better for a while as i managed to establish another base nearby (my recon units discovered some friendly people who joined my faction). I was able to build more units and armies but i lost a very big battle. Lost 1 Hero, 1 Unit of Artillery and 1 Unit of Fanatics against some independent units i thought i could take on. To take revenge i sent an Air Unit but was intercepted by Xenopods and was destroyed. So in just two turns i lost most of my units.

Despite its unfriendliness to newcomers this game really draws you in. All PC strategy game fans should download the demo and have a go.

Me, i am thinking of how to quickly set up my defenses against the incoming Indepenents and Xenopods.

Once i was a pc gamer. Once i was fully committed to turn based strategy games. But it was a long time ago. We drifted apart. Windows and consoles came between us. But there is nothing like your first love.

I have been looking for some time now a way to return to turn based strategy games and unforrtunately this can only be done using a PC. I wanted something simple without requiring a high end PC. Armageddon Empires is an idie developed game. It is basically a board game but on a computer. I have been reading a lot of positive comments about this game and finally decided to go for it. No better time than the christmas holidays.

If you want more info on the game visit www.crypticcomet.com where you can download a demo for the game.

Expect more from me on this one soon.

Ok. First let me explain the miracle called internet and the small miracle called “play.com”. I have been looking for a copy of GH3 here in Cyprus but to no avail. I spoke with Micromania and Public and both stores said.

“We only received two 360 copies, sold them both and we don’t expect to get any more this year”.

Fine! I ordered from play on Monday and got my shipment on Friday. Who needs you local retailers anymore. The only thing standing in the way of complete domination of online shopping for games is the Cyprus post office.

Anyway enough of that. Now about GH3!

(more…)

Last week i posted about one of the most original games coming out on the PSP, Patapon. Stephen Tottilo had a hands on experience with the game. These are the creators behind Locoroco and like Stephen says, it shows.

After reading his comments you will get a better idea of what the game is all about. Click here.

It’s Christmas time and the social gatherings skyrocket. For some reason going to people’s flats and houses during the christmas holidays feels right. Board games are almost always part of the agenda in these gatherings and these involve both the female and male population.

Now, however you can have as much fun on your TV. I am talking about entertainment games like “Scene it?” on the 360. This is a trivia question game on movies. No killing, no racing, no football. Just questions on movies. Sounds boring it?

Far from it. I had friends over the weekend, went to two different flats and Scene it? was a hit. The best piece of entertainment for some time now. I think since last december when people came over for Wii Sports.

There isn’t much to tell about how the game is played. Just that you are given multiple answers to answer a specific question. These can range from a Billboard of a movie slowly being completed and you need to answer for which movie this is for. The speed of the answer will determine how many points you get. Another popular variation is when you are shown a short video clip of a movie and then asked questions about the specific scene and the movie in general.

The game comes with 4 good quality wireless buzzers (you can also use your existing 360 controllers) which were also a big hit with my friends. The whole package is GBP35. If you are looking for a good game which will interest both women and men i definitely recommend Scene it?. It has a database of 1800 questions so it should keep you occupied over the holiday season. Hopefully there will also be additional downloadable questions sometime next year so as to keep people using those superb buzzers.

P.S If you own a PS2, there is the game called Buzz which is trivia game but with more general knowledge questions. It too has 4 buzzers but these are wired. But it still good from what i hear.

After 2 days of seminars, i am back to work and have a ton of emails and work to do plus some personal stuff. Basically i am a bit swamped.

Just managing to write a bit after playing a bit more Anno. I am playing the story mode where you are given missions to complete in order to move to the next stage. It is basically a tutorial (the first two chapters out of a total of 5). It is good at what it does. I mean it is good for learning the ropes.

To be honest however i prefer the “free role” where you are not restricted on what you need to do. I suppose the continuous mode in the game represents this but still the story could have been handled a bit better. Don’t know how. The thing is the story mode may get a bit boring after a while. Only time will tell.

Don’t get me wrong though. This is a superb game and i still can’t believe i am playing it on the DS of all consoles! It has also up to 4 multiplayer mode. Fortunately i have a few people inteterested in these management games so we may have a go.

Anyway, have to go. Tomorrow!