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…This Time I’m Really Back
Last year was an odd year for me. I closed down the gaming site I’d been running for three years, attempted to go freelance, set up this blog and actually started at Gamerwok. As of now my position at Gametwok has been lessened (due to university commitments), though I hope to step it up when I’ve completed my degree in the spring.
In the meantime, I still want to write about games. It might be sparingly and a little out of date, but writing about games was my first love, and I still love this industry. Moon & Back has certainly taken priority in the last 18 months, but I don’t want to leave my first love behind. After all, videogames were there long before I became a music nerd.
I still plan on going to Cologne for Gamescom in the summer (mostly because I loved it last year, but also because I love the city), and E3 could even be on the cards if I get something proper sorted. For now I’ll be writing here, so be prepared to read my musings on older games, and occasional takes on the industry. I’ll also be writing some pieces to coincide with my university dissertation, which is based around sexism in videogames journalism.
Though my main resolution for 2012 is to quit being a fat person, getting back into videogames might be a close second. Yes, I’m well aware of how much of a contradiction those two things are.
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I’m Back, Bitches!
With Bulletstorm finally complete and Vanquish…well, vanquished I feel re-energised. I’m finally getting back to loving my gaming hobby, again and it’s great to be back in the saddle. Not only that, but I’m back to my trophy whoring ways again too.
Having just completed two shooters, I want something new. More importantly, I want something with some easy-ass trophies. Looking through my collection I’ve found a sealed copy of Shaun White Skateboarding. It’s not a game I’m proud of owning, but it cost me a whole £2.99 and appears to have some of those lovely digital accomplishments that I love so much.
Yes there will be a ‘Game Log’, no I probably won’t be finishing this. Time to throw on Weekend Confirmed and get skating. Wish me luck!
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Game Log #1 - Bulletstorm - Part 2
Two sittings! It’s really rare I finish a game, even a first person shooter, as quickly as I blasted through Bulletstorm. The credits have just finished rolling and that last bit of dialogue has now been uttered. My verdit: colour me impressed!
As I expected, the story is pretty lackluster and I lost interest very quickly. Towards the end I was just skipping through cutscenes to get back to the action. It just felt like the right thing to do. Despite my constant skipping, it became clear that Grayson is a likeable character - a rarity in modern FPS games. What impressed me more was the scale of the battles as I progressed.
After act 4 I was no longer taking on a small group of, easily disposed, enemies. I was leashing, kicking and skillshotting my way through hordes of harder enemies, driving my bullets towards tricky nests of snipers and battling mini-boss after mini boss. It ramped up really well and, although I often felt overwhelmed, it felt right. Well, until one point. In the last segment, as I was fighting my way towards Serrano, there was this section in which I fought every enemy type and every mini boss in one tiny room. Frustrating is an understatement. it was awful, but that’s the only real time this game tripped me up.
On the whole Bulletstorm was a really enjoyable experience. It wasn’t a game I went into expecting to enjoy, but it really surprised me. It was mad, dumb and fun as hell. Loved (almost) every minute of it.
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Game Log #1: Bulletstorm - Part 1
Before I get into this I want to mention that this idea is totally stolen from Britt Brombacher (www.blondenerd.com), but it seems about the best way to be doing this other than in a more traditional review format.
Bulletstorm is not a game I was massively interested in when it was released, nor when it was announced, or ever really. Regardless, because I can’t turn down a bargain I snapped it up a few months back and it’s remained unopened on my shelf for almost four months. Having just finished Vanquish, I thought I’d finally give it a shot. You know what? I’m pleasantly surprised.
I’m really surprised actually. I was anticipating a complete lack of a story and a bunch of ‘bro shooter’ humor. Whilst the latter is still present, the story has surprised me in the way that there actually is a story and it’s not too bad. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nothing fantastic but I held out little faith when the word “dicktits” was banded around upon the game’s release.
So the story might be lackluster, but everything else is pretty stellar so far. The environments look great, the gameply is satisfying and the weapons are…interesting, to say the least. People Can Fly have been known for their off the wall shooters in the past and they haven’t disapointed thus far.
I’ve ploughed through the first four acts and loved every second. The combat mechanics are fun and interesting and I’ve found myself actively looking to score ‘skillshots’. To be fair, nothing has really tested me either. The bosses and their underlings appear to go down without much fight, which certainly makes you feel bad ass at first, but it can get repetitive at times. The regular run and gun combat has been broken up with on rails segments and I’ve taken control of a giant robot dinosaur, but they’ve been few and far between.
What I can gather so far is that I’ll be finishing Bulletstorm and I’ll enjoy it too. I just don’t think it’s going to leave any lasting effect once I’ve put it down and turned to another game in the backlog. At this point, that’s exactly what I want. Big, dumb, fun and nothing else.
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Blasting Through The Backlog
As release season gears up it’s nice to not feel the stress I’ve felt for the past three years. For games journalists/critics/whatever you want to call it, once the end of August rolls around it’s time to get stuck in to the year’s big releases. Since going freelance less than a month ago this stress has lifted and I’m playing games for fun again. It’s awesome.
That’s not to say that I’m not keeping up with the latest releases. I can’t wait to get my grubby mitts on Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Resistance 3. However, with my lack of cash and rekindled lust for gaming post-Gamescom, I’ve been going back to the stuff on my shelf left unopened. The first of which was Vanquish.
I’d heard a lot of positive things about Vanquish coming out of E3 last year, and I bought it dirt cheap earlier this year, but it was only until the other week that I finally pulled it off the shelf and started playing. The first thing I noticed is that Vanquish is a Japanese-ass Japanese game. If you get past that, it’s clear that Shinji Mikami has created an awesome third person shooter. You zip around the environments shooting the shit out of anything that moves. The bosses are huge and the combat is great. Granted there’s some problems but, overall, it’s a blast.
Having heard that, to put it bluntly, it was dumb, I decided against following the story and skipped through cutscenes and went straight into the action. It took me a short while to finish and I enjoyed it a lot. Even when it started kicking my arse I couldn’t help but go back and try it all again. There’s not many games out there that do that to me, how frustration didn’t win out I’ll never know.
I finished it about an hour ago and I can’t believe how much I enjoyed it. I wasn’t even looking at the trophies (shock horror!) Anyway, I’ve no stuck Bulletstorm in for the first time. This is a game that really didn’t impress me when I played it at events. Again, I bought it super cheap and am looking forward to diving in.
God I love videogames!
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BEYOND!
I’ve listened to a lot of podcasts over the years: They’ve made me laugh, they’ve made me cry and they’ve inspired me to do it myself. There’s not many of those shows that I’ve listened to from the very start, but I did hear the very first Podcast Beyond.
It’s almost like with that first utterance of “Beyond!” - a catchphrase I would come to use from that point on, with reckless abandon - I was hooked. As a die-hard PlayStation fan, this was the show I needed. It was (and still is) the show I look forward to most each week. Other podcasts have come and gone, but Beyond has been one of two constants in my weekly podcast listening for the past four years. It’s helped me through a lot too.
Beyond was there for the beginning of college: I remember waking up every Thursday morning (or any day I knew a new episode would post), with minutes to spare until my bus left. Before leaving, I’d make sure to download Beyond and put it on my iPod to make my journey, and the rest of my day, that bit more enjoyable.
Beyond was there when my grandad had cancer: It was horrible wondering what might happen to grandad. I thought about it a lot, too much. Beyond gave me a little window of enjoyment through the worst parts of that. I knew that there was an hour each week that I’d relax and not think the worst.
Beyond was there to cure the hangover: Waking up after a good night out and feeling like shit is one of the worst feelings in the world. I remember going out on my 18th birthday and getting hammered. The next morning - a Thursday - I downloaded the latest Beyond and laughed my arse off. Perfect hangover cure.
Beyond was there for the heartache: There was only so much listening to The Smiths and The Cure I could take. Listening to Beyond on those horrible night buses home after being knocked back time after time was a massive help. Laughter can often be the best medicine.
Beyond was there for those late night sessions: Every gamer has those real late night sessions. You’ve been playing something none stop and you’re just about to see credits roll. The amount of times Beyond’s been there when those credits start rolling and the sun starts rising is incredible.
Beyond was there at my first E3: All I’ve ever wanted to do is be a part of the videogames industry in a writing capacity. Ever since I first picked up Games Master magazine and flipped through the amazing summer issue I wanted to go to E3. Last year, my dream was realised. I worked my arse off for a week, but my highlight of the show was Two days in. Having traipsed through the Los Angeles Convention Center, flitting from booth to booth and appointment to appointment, I was tired. Very tired. That night I went to Activision’s big, dumb, concert/press event. As I left I noticed a few familiar faces. I stopped Greg and Ryan as they left the building, chatted a little and shared a mighty “Beyond!” Couldn’t have asked for more that whole trip.
There’s many other moments, both sad and upbeat, that Beyond has been there for. There’s really too many to mention. When Greg says that Beyond (and all IGN podcast listeners) are friends, I believe him. Without Beyond, I’d have one less hour of laughs in the week, that’s for sure.
Watching the 200th episode at 1:30am (GMT) was crazy. There’s not a lot that I’d force myself to stay up and watch/listen to - especially knowing that it’ll be available to download shortly after. There’s not another podcast as wacky, fun and informative as Beyond out there. I hope to bump into Greg and Ryan again in the future. As for Colin, I hope we can have a beer and chat in Germany in a couple of weeks.
I bid you Beyond!
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Clash Of Awesome
I remember seeing the initial trailer for the PSN/XBLA version of Might & Magic: Clash Of Heroes and laughing at the bad French translation. That’s about all I had invested in the game - a cheap laugh at a badly translated trailer. However, after listening to a bunch of people talking about it on podcasts (thank you Area5/Co-Op crew!) I learned that Capy had developed the DS version, and were the same lot working on the port.
It was that that I realised how foolish I had been. How could I ignore the latest release from Capy, especially after Nathan Vella had been so nice to me? I loved Critter Crunch and now couldn’t wait to play M&M: COH when it came out on the PSN (I don’t own a DS). Luckily I got my chance before release, but I had to navigate a few obstacles first.
I was at E3, casually wandering past the Ubisoft booth when I spotted that Clash Of Heroes was being demoed. The problem was, it was being demoed behind closed doors at Ubi’s booth and I didn’t have an appointment. Fuck! It was then that I spotted a familiar face. Nathan Vella (Capy CEO) was there wandering around. I had my in. I’d met Nathan the year before in Edinburgh. He was kind enough to show off Critter Crunch HD for me, now I just had to wait.
It was a good few hours before my next appointment, so I stood outside the Ubisoft booth and waited. The woman guarding (yes, guarding) the entrance didn’t seem to want me there, occasionally asking me what or who I was waiting for. I fobbed her off with “This is the only place I can get decent WiFi on the floor, I’m just checking my emails” - she didn’t buy it.
After a while, Nathan popped out of the booth and we had a little moment. Not gonna lie, the dude’s got a winning smile. We had a bit of a chat before he lead me into the booth telling the scowling PR woman “It’s ok. He’s with me”. I played some COH and it was one of the best things I played at the show. When it came out, I was far too busy to get around to it. I’m enjoying it in between my bouts of editing video. You should get it. It’s fucking awesome!
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My Duke Nukem Forever Feature →
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Old Game Is Not Old?
Despite what Greg Miller might say (a sentence you won’t hear my uttering often) I’ve really gotten back into the idea of playing older games. It happened for a while last year, but soon died off when I went to E3. Now that love for all things retro is back and I don’t want it to go away.
As you can see from the photo (above), I bought myself a Nintendo NES. It came with Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt for £35. Which, in my opinion, is a fucking steal. I’ve been assured that it works but, because I play all my stuff on a HD computer monitor, I’m having to wait for the composite cables, that I bought on eBay, to be delivered.
The shop I bought it at also had an SNES and an N64 sitting there. If I’d have had the cash, I’d have taken all three. I decided upon the NES, because it’s rarer to see one of those in the wild. Hopefully I’ll be able to find a place to get my games from, because I can’t seem to find anything I want (See: here) cheap.
This is going to be an expensive extension to my, already expensive, hobby.
