Game of the Year 2012

Part of the problem with blogging on a game of the year, is that the games industry skews its releases to the back end of the calendar, to better catch a bigger slice of the lucrative Christmas pie. It isn't really possible to play all of those last quarter releases before Old Father Time brings his scythe down on the dying year, unless that's all you do in November and December. As attractive as that plan sounds, there are lots of calls - enjoyable, festive ones, mind - on my time in those months and I'm never going to be able to play them all.

Last year, there were two games, released in 2011 but which I only played in 2012 that would probably have kicked their way into my 2011 top 5 - the sublime Rayman Origins (bought in the post-Christmas sales) and Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (a Christmas present). This year, I own but have not yet played, several games that have featured in others' GotY lists - Journey, Hitman: Absolution, Far Cry 3 and maybe even the heavily criticised (but I still have a soft spot for the series) Resident Evil 6.

In any event, it hasn't been a vintage year for gaming - this generation is teetering towards its, somewhat delayed, end and console games (on at least the 360) don't seem to have progressed, technically at any rate, for a couple of years.  This is only to be expected when a hardware cycle nears its end and, in certain respects, actually whets my appetite for the next generation.

There have been two new hardware releases - the WiiU and the PS Vita - both of which I bought on the day that they were released but only one of which has provided a game in the list below.  There was also the revamp of the Nintendo 3DS, in the far superior 3DS XL - another day 1 purchase from me. I've enjoyed all three devices and, in the Vita and WiiU, there is a lot of potential for the future.
 Anyway,  in reverse order, these are my top 6 (couldn't narrow it to 5 this year) games (of those that I have played) released in 2012.

6. Resident Evil Revelations The first game on my list and also the first 2012-released game I played this year (unsually for a big name game, released in January). I found the demo near unplayable without the Circle Pro Pad add-on but, having bought the game bundled with this Franken-device,  it played very nicely.  A welcome return to old school Resi 1-3 style gameplay (in part, anyway - there were some action-oriented levels too).  I love the newer style Resis too but this was a great change of pace (and also had some great shout-out-loud shocks, particularly when played with headphones - not a game for the daily commute).

5. Lego Lord of the Rings - all the Lego videogames are great fun but this one, based around the films, made me laugh out loud several times.  It  makes a few tweaks to the normal Lego game template, all for the better.  One of the new aspects that I did not think would work, was using the actual voices from the film dubbed onto the Lego Minifigs but this was one of the most refreshing features, enhancing both the Lego-ness and the LotR-ness of the subject matter.

4. ZombiU - I bought ZombiU bundled with my WiiU.  As the name suggests, another to add to the growing list  of zombie videogames. This time, though, the action is set in London, a setting I thoroughly enjoyed, given my familiarity with the city (one area featured in the game is Bethnal Green - where I used to live - and another is Buckingham Palace, near where I work).  Innovative use of the WiiU's gamepad, a harder than usual (these days) difficulty level and perma-death for your character should (when) the zombies catch up with him or her, made this one of the scariest games I've played for years (possibly, ever)

3. Xcom: Enemy Unknown - A fantastic, cerebral, turn-based strategy game with RPG stylings - think human vs alien chess.

2. The Walking Dead A throwback to point and click adventure games, Walking Dead coupled a very strong voice cast to a powerful and genuinely shocking narrative.  Based in the same world as the comics and the TV series (and occasionally  sharing some of the same characters), it tells the story of escaped convict Lee and the child he befriends and protects, Clementine.   There's a large ensemble of characters who interact with Lee and Clem and decisions that you, the player, take have an influence on the direction the narrative takes, even across different episodes.  Released in 5 episodes through the year, I shotgunned the first three just after the third was released and then impatiently waited for the final two.

1. Dishonored -  its rare that a new IP launches so late in a console's life cycle and even rarer that it is as finely-moulded as Dishonored.  The central story of revenge and (to some extent, optional) retribution, was straightforward enough.  But the developers created a believable, cohesive world within which the events take place, with a rich mythos hinting at much more (for sequels, perhaps) than was needed or used in the game itself. A range of psychic and combat abilities give  the player a fair degree of freedom to complete the levels how they choose to (for example, I got through the final level without killing anyone at all but I know from other players' tales that that level can be a bloodbath.   Reminiscent of the sublime Thief series, I enjoyed it from start to finish.

Dishonored Special Edition

I've not bought a special edition of a game for a while but, as some of my other posts attest, I am a sucker for a fancy deck of playing cards. For that reason the special edition of newly-released stealth/slay 'em up Dishonored - complete with tarot deck - was a no-brainer.




Unusually for me, I preordered instore and picked the game up on day of release (yesterday, at the time of writing) for £45. As is generally the case these days with a special edition, there is a code for in-game downloadable content included in the set ('Arcane Assassin pack') but the only physical extra content is the afore-mentioned deck of cards.





The cards are quite slick, as the pictures show and come complete with the rules for 'The Game of Nancy' that can be played with them.





















- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Xtendplay (Xbox 360) Review

As a - ahem - 'veteran' gamer, I've been playing videogames for over thirty years. At times I think that this has had a noticeable impact on my hands and wrists (because, y'know, gaming's the only thing that could have had such an effect). Often, the morning  after a lengthy session, my hands feel a bit 'tingly'  (sorry about the medical jargon there) and stiff - not exactly uncomfortable but a sensation is present where usually there is none.

Yes, it is fugly

When I read about the xtendplay controller extender, I thought that it would be worth a try to see if it alleviated this issue. The product's  basic premise is that 'gamers' claw', the stiffness and discomfort following lengthy play, is caused by the gamer gripping the hard plastic of the controller while playing. With the xtendplay it is the product that grips the plastic, whereas the user instead grips the moulded foam of the xtendplay.  The controller fits snugly and securely (no wobble) into the foam extension (see photos). 

The extended length of the unit allows the controller to rest against the gamer's stomach, thereby removing another cause of wrist stress - weight is being borne by the gamer's midriff, rather than all on the wrists. With this in mind, the bottom of the xtendplay  has a convex profile, an allowance for gamers with *coughs*, a bit of timber about the middle.

Snug

I have the 360 version and there is also  a PS3 version.

I've been using the xtendplay  for over 9 months now and, for me, it has been a success. I've not played games any less, yet my wrists and hands, while not 'tingle-free' have felt noticeably more comfortable the morning after a heavy gaming session and no problems at all while actually gaming. Early on in those six months, when yet to be convinced of the benefits, I removed the extension before playing EDF: Insect Armageddon for a lengthy Saturday night/Sunday morning session. EDF:IA is a high-energy game, with a lot of intense controller use. In the more high-octane moments towards the end of the game my hands (tightly grasping the controller) and wrists, possibly having been spoilt by the benefits of the xtendplay in the preceding weeks, were screaming in agony. Since that time my 360 controller has worn its attractive green sheath continually.

On the downside, it does take some getting used to. I had a palpable feeling, early on, that my hands just weren't 'quite' big enough to hold my new Franken-controller's monster. I wondered if this would hinder my mad  gaming skillz by  not being able to reach buttons as easily or as quickly. However, I don't think that that has happened and that any mistakes made while gaming with the xtendplay have been mine alone.  

If this review tempts you into buying the xtendplay and you, like me, have dainty girl's hands, you might feel the same way initially but it is worth persevering with, as after a time it is far more comfortable and 'right'.

In the few days after being hacked, I barely played my 360. Instead I played Resident Evil Revelations on 3DS (with Circle Pad Pro). I do most of my gaming at weekends and my hands and wrists, after a weekend of 3D survival horror, were noticeably more painful on Monday morning than the when gaming on the extended 360 controller.

Another niggling doubt in my mind is that, while the xtendplay  is easier on my wrists, the tension created between my hands, arms and shoulders by wedging it against my stomach might not be doing my shoulders any good. However I've no noticeable problems in my shoulders to date from this, so it is probably an unnecessary worry on my  part . 

When I bought my xtendplay last year, I paid £15 for it. For the purposes of checking for this review, I discovered that Amazon are now knocking them out for £6.99 (on 360 & PS3), which is an absolute bargain. If  I didn't use the Power A Pro Elite third party pad on PS3, I would definitely buy an xtendplay for PS3 as well.

Hacked Off

Earlier this week, my Xbox Live account was hacked. My Microsoft points balance of about 1600 was all but emptied and an attempted purchase of a further 6000 points only failed as the credit card linked to my account had expired. According to my purchase history 'I' had purchased three items of FIFA 12 'Ultimate Team' DLC (I hadn't). According to my Windows Live account, I'd added another email to my account (nope) and changed my security to one in Chinese (hmm, no).

I'd had a hard, tense day at work and really wanted to unwind by shooting some terrorists in the face (MW2) followed by an early night. As it was, my evening was completely free of face-shooting and I was up until gone midnight deleting stuff and wandering around the internet changing other passwords and generally upping my security levels. Not what I'd wanted to do at all.

I'd been aware of a hacking problem on Live, particularly in relation to FIFA DLC - one of my friends list had had an identical hack before Christmas and you don't have to search far on the internet to find similar stories. Indeed, the verb  'to be FIFA'd' has started being used  ("I have been well and truly FIFA'd").

I'd never succumbed to a phish for my log in details and my password was judged 'strong' but a fat lot of good that did.  The Internets say that there's a weak link in Microsoft's security software and that may be the case (I'm no expert).  There's clearly something wrong given  the number of incidences of hackage reported on the Internet.  

I reported  it to Microsoft, who said that my Live account would be locked and the details  passed to its 'investigation team' and that this was likely to take up to 3 days.  12 hours later, I received an email from the investigations team, which said that they had verified that unauthorised access had taken place and then gave me a code for Microsoft points  slightly in excess of those that I had lost.  All I need now is for my account to be unlocked and I'll be back in the game (this hiatus may do something to remedy my FIFA addiction - 80+ hours to date).

Given how quickly my claim was agreed, coupled to the fact that early reports of this problem last autumn stated that accounts were being locked for up to a month, has led me to think that Microsoft know what's causing the issue and don't want to fix it.  The 360 is coming to the end of its lifespan, with its successor expected to be announced, in some quarters, at this year's E3.  Who knows what shape Live will take in the next generation of Xbox consoles?  Do Microsoft consider it cheaper to pay off those unlucky games like me who've been hacked, compared with the cost of altering deep-grained issues within Live's code, when Live for the Xbox 720 (this almost definitely won't be its name) may be far different?

Game of the Year 2011

It's been a long time since I blogged (again), as  that pesky 'real life' thing has been interfering in my free time (and I like to use at least some of that which I have left to actually play games!).  Hopefully, I'll get more time in the New Year.  I had hoped that my family  taking over the TV for  X-Factor 2011 would allow me some time for gaming but, no - I laid into my DS and 3DS instead, the better to block out the tuneless wailing and, frankly, shouting (Kitty, I'm looking at you, through eyes squinting in pain) that was on my TV.


Anyway, as I did last year, I thought I'd post on my favourite games from those that I'd played during the year. I haven't played everything this year - there are some triple A releases (Gears of War 3, Skyrim) that just don't float my gaming boat - and I have a couple (most notably Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword) that might have a claim to sneaking in my top 5 when I actually get around to playing them.  However, there's not much point of a 'best of' list being posted in April the following year, so here it is, in reverse order for an illusion of tension - 


5. Batman: Arkham City - the sequel to what was my game of the year  2009 (Batman: Arkham Asylum) and not as good as that superbly structured and balanced game.  The story and look of Gotham City (aka Arkham City, a prison built in the fenced-off streets of parts of Gotham) were great, as was the respect shown towards the Batman mythos.  There was too much unnecessary padding of side missions though and I hope that any subsequent Batman game from Rocksteady is more focussed. Admittedly, I didn't have to do any  side missions (or I could have picked and chose those that I wanted) but there's a bit of OCD towards collecting in most gamers - I blame Mario - and, in getting sidetracked, I lost some of the focus of the central narrative.   A special mention to the boss fights - far better than in the first game and one (Mr Freeze) was one of the best boss fights I've ever played.

4. Mario Kart 7 - an excellent entry into a series I've been playing for nearly twenty years. It followed the tried and tested template of 32 courses (16 new, 16 plucked form earlier iterations of the game) split into 8 cups, with various unlockables (characters, kart modifications) to pick up along the way.  The addition of underwater and in the air paths through courses gave a sense of 'verticality' to the courses (and the shortcuts available in them).  I was sceptical about this verticality at first but it really has an impact of gameplay and pathfinding.  It also has  the best use of 3D on the 3DS that I've yet seen. 


My only gripe is that there's too many Mario Kart Wii courses on the retro cups - I've nothing against the courses picked (Maple Treeway, Coconut Mall, Mushroom Gorge and Koopa Cape), which are all very good (the former two are probably my favourite courses on MKW). It's just that I still regularly play MKW and one of the great things about playing retro courses in successive Mario Karts is that they take you back to courses that you've not played for a while - this time around, I still play  a quarter of the retro courses on offer in another game.

3. LA Noire - a game that can be summed up as a James Ellroy's LA Quartet simulator  - and just as good as that sounds. Spooky facial capture tech puts recognisable actors (including many of the cast of Mad Men and  John Noble from Fringe)  into the game. The facial expressions  used by the actors are a key part of the gameplay, as you try to 'read' them in interview sequences, something that had never been done in a game before (and that worked very well). Excellent narrative (even if there are a few holes and too many 'borrowings' from Ellroy) and interview sequences.  


Unfortunately, the developer went into administration shortly after the game was released but hopefully another developer has picked up the tech used in the game - it showed massive promise

2. Portal 2 - It's not often that I laugh out loud at a videogame (50 Cent: Blood on the Sand excepted) but I did, several times, in Portal 2.   Intelligence, wit and humour are three attributes not always found in videogames but Valve's excellent first person puzzler had them in spades. As with the first game (that I did not even play until after this one), the gameplay revolves around the portal gun - a device that shoots two (at any given time) holes into reality that then create a portal between them that the player can pass through. The puzzles are essentially a series of passages from A to B but that brief description does not do them justice.  You get  a sense of real achievement (which is always far better than an Achievement) after working out a particularly tough puzzle without resorting to an internet guide. This was my game of the year until today (30/12), when I reached the end of -

1. Uncharted 3 -  Uncharted is one of Sony's console exclusive crown jewels (along with Killzone and Resistance, neither of which I'm that keen on).  Uncharted 2 was excellent in every area (still only my third favourite game on 2009 though, behind Batman and Assassin's Creed II) but this one surpasses it.  The same treasure seeking template as before (think 'Indiana Jones' (but try not to think of the awful fourth film)) but this has been polished to perfection.  The story was spot-on and didn't succumb to the narrative foolishness in the final reel as the previous two games.  Some of the set pieces were breathtakingly good - straight out of a Hollywood blockbuster. The environment effects - fire, water - were superb, giving a true sense of danger to what you were doing onscreen and Nathan Drake is a genuinely engaging central character.  All of the characters were excellently voice-acted, particularly Drake and the always in need of rescue Victor 'Sully' Sullivan (Princess Peach to Drake's Mario).  Special mention goes  to the music score, which was pitch perfect for the game.
Well, that brings to an end my games of the year.  Honourable mentions must be given to those that  just missed out -  Little Big Planet 2 (in the top 3 until the autumn), Super Mario 3D Land, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and FIFA 12 (the best football game I've ever played).  Same time again next year...

If it's in the game, it's in the game

This year's iteration in the FIFA franchise came out a few weeks ago. I bought it on the day of release and have been playing it, if not solidly then consistently, since then. It is an excellent game, far better than last year's more defence-minded game and as good, if not better, than FIFA10 (up until now my favourite football videogame ever).

But I'm not blogging about my silky FIFA skills (with my win percentage bumping along at around 20%, that wouldn't take long). Last Saturday, I went to see real football, West Ham United v Blackpool and thoroughly enjoyed a 4-0 saunter for the Cockney Boys. My seat for the day was in one of the stands to the side of the ground,  just below the TV gantry, almost in line with the centre circle. The view from my seat was very similar to the default camera option in this year's FIFA. Such is the realism of FIFA12 (graphically - at a distance, anyway - as well as in the gameplay), there were times during the West Ham game when I was watching the on-field action instinctively thinking 'finesse that shot' or 'pressing tackle!' and imagining the corresponding button press as I saw play develop. I'd then remember that this wasn't a virtual game of football, that it was an actual one.

These thoughts came like they do when playing the game - jumping into the 'twitch reflex' part of my brain, rather than the rational, thinking-monkey, bit (the rational bit then kicking in, rolling its eyes at 'twitch' and reminding Team Brain that its body wasn't holding a controller). I've had this feeling before - for example, when scanning the tops of flyovers for giant ants after a lengthy EDF 2017 session - but never from a sports game. I think this is testament to the immersive nature of this year's  FIFA and it is difficult to predict how EA can improve upon this sense of immersion  in the  future (not that that will stop them bringing out FIFA13, of course).  

Official Wireless Xbox 360 controller (silver) - review

Unless you're relentlessly anti-social (or fixated with online play only), you'll need to buy additional controllers to complement the one packaged with your console. You may have an annoying sibling to take on at FIFA, a guest who wants to 'see how much games have changed since my Atari ST', or a child to grind Lego collecathons with. However you arrive there, you will almost certainly be looking to buy a second controller at some point.  I bought a second official MS Xbox controller when I bought my 360 in 2007. Recently one of them became faulty, continually becoming disconnected from the console despite fully juiced-up batteries or battery packs. As I often play 360 with my daughter, a second controller is essential and so I was in the market for a new one.

Third-party pads are nearly always awful (Power A Pro Elite on PS3 being a notable exception), so I looked to Microsoft for a replacement pad. As I've written on here before, I think that the 360 controller is the best controller that I have ever used over my thirty years of gaming. Other than the d-pad, which is a bit sucky, there is nothing that I would seek to improve about the pad that I wanted to replace.

Pretty

Never one to miss a trick, improving the d-pad is exactly what Microsoft has done in the latest version of the pad. The d-pad switches between a disc (as in the original pad) and, with a slight twist, a cross. The cross is undoubtedly better than the disc but most games that I play don't use the d-pad all that much - weapon selection, choice of tactics and similar functions. While it's a neat trick, I don't think it is that much of a killer feature to warrant a purchase on its own.

As an 'innie'

As an 'outie'

As the pictures show, my new controller is silver which, as the pictures don't quite show, is a matt effect (a shiny finish would not have done much for its gripability). I thought that this would run the risk of scuffing like a cheap plastic toy - of the metal effect rubbing off after repeated use to show the black plastic underneath. So far, however, that has not happened, even under the part of the controller under my wedding ring.

Another new 'feature' is a recolouring of the buttons, presumably to echo the silver colour of the pad itself. I think that this is a poor design choice as far as its primary purpose - as a game controller - is concerned. while it might make sense aesthetically, the 'normal' colours of the buttons are important when playing games. Screen prompts, particularly in tutorials, will flash up the colour, as well as the letters (which are unchanged in this pad). I instinctively know that 'green' means the 'A' button. There have been occasions playing with the new pad where I've seen a green, blue, red or yellow coloured screen prompt and had to think 'is that white, light grey, middle grey or dark grey?'. Many games rely on split-second timing and that fraction of a second additional thinking time may be the difference between success or failure.

The buttons in all their monochrome glory

The pad is slightly heavier than the normal pad. Without batteries it is 226gm (compared to the normal pad's 209gm) and with the standard rechargeable battery pack, it is 297gm (compared to a normal pad's 280gm). 17gm difference seems very little indeed but it does make a difference. I often have stiff wrists the day following a lengthy gaming session (30-years' gaming experience, ftw) and that was noticeably worse with the new pad. The day after a long session with this pad on high octane shooter Vanquish, my wrists were aching like those of a 14-year old boy with unmonitored internet access.

I paid £45 for the pad, which came packaged with a play and charge kit. As I needed a play and charge kit anyway, I thought that this was a good price. However, in my opinion this pad is not as good as the original pad. The chief 'good' point - the new D-pad - does not outweigh the 'bad' ones - the weight and the different coloured buttons. When/if I next need to pick up another new pad, I will be going for the original one.

50 Cent: Blood on the Sand - review

I think it is fair to say that I am not 50 Cent's number one fan. At the risk of sounding like an embarrassing Dad who says that  they like music in an attempt to seem younger than they are (or should act), I quite like some rap music but Fiddy is, frankly, not my cup of tea.  Or mother-fucking tea, as Mr Cent would have it.

Fiddy regrets offering to be a 'Phone a Friend'

When the second game to feature Mr Cent, 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, came out a couple of years ago, it reviewed quite well, with a lot of 'guilty pleasure' reviews (the 360 version is showing 71% on Metacritic, a respectable score) and I picked it up about a year after its release.  I only started playing it last month though and....

...it was actually quite good.  The game is a third-person (though there are a couple of vehicle levels), cover-based, co-op (either with a human or CPU player) shooter and the basic mechanic is sound.  When playing on your own, you have dubious pleasure of playing as Fiddy, with the CPU playing as one of three members of G-Unit.  As well as offering back-up, they fawn over Fiddy, praising him for particularly tricky actions (read: shooting people), which can get irritating (guys, get a room).

Oh Fiddy, you're so fine, you're so fine, you blow my mind, hey Fiddy, hey Fiddy

Fiddy and friends swap profanities with gay abandon - it was the sweariest game I'd ever played, a title it only held for a short time as I started playing Mafia II (which REALLY has swearing) afterwards.  Whereas the Mafia II swearing seems authentically gangster like, Fiddy's potty mouth is pretty ridiculous.  For example, shouting 'fire in the hole' is a  quick phrase, shouted out  to let others know something is about to explode.  Shouting 'Fire in the motherfucking hole, bitches' kind of defeats the object - you'd get your bling blown off.

The plot, such as it is, revolves around Fiddy having performed a concert in an unnamed hellhole in the Middle East, for which he was not paid his $10m fee (which seems a lot to me - maybe Fiddy is using the game as a way to jack up his asking price). In lieu of payment, he is given (as you are) a diamond-encrusted skull, originally inhabited by the favourite wife of an olden days king. This skull is subsequently stolen and Fiddy spends the rest of the game trying to track it down. I'm not sure why he is so attached to the skull - he'd barely owned 5 minutes before it was stolen and presumably there are other failed states willing to pay his gig asking price. You wonder why he didn't just give it up as a bad lot and jet back to LA and his solid gold (I assume) mansion.

One previous owner

Anyway, the rest of the, pretty short, game is spent looking for the skull  while killing lots of people, with a few two-dimensional characters popping up in cut scenes explaining the plot (Omid Djalilli did you really need the money that badly?).  There are 9 missions, most of which are broken down into several chapters and the game can be completed in 6-7 hours.  You get a score for each chapter, so there is the prospect of replaying chapters to increase your score (not that I bothered with this).

Why do bosses attack with helicopters in the area where they store their RPG ammunition?

One of the things it most strongly reminded me of, was Elvis Presley's movie career (this may be the world's first comparison between these two artists). They don't get shown much on TV these days, but when I was growing up they'd often be shown during the daytime or in the early evening on BBC2. In all of them, Elvis would be Elvis - he might be a prison inmate, a nightclub singer, a GI, a roustabout, he night have different name but he would *be* Elvis.  Fiddy is playing 'Fiddy' here but the character you're playing isn't really Curtis Jackson aka 50 Cent - it's the gangsta he wishes he could be.  Fiddy (the real one) famously got shot 9 times in 2000 and this is used as an aspect of his gangsta credentials but surely it's not getting shot 9 times that makes you a successful gangsta?  I do not think that the real Fiddy would stand much of a chance against the terrorists, private military contractors or soldiers in Blood on the Sand - one of the pleasures of the game is the innate absurdity of this pampered star taking on the persona of John Rambo and the genuine enjoyment you can hear in his voice from the deluded pleasure he takes from the 'role'.

There is a debate in videogames about whether they can be art.  This is not the game that decides that argument.  However, it is an enjoyable, solid game that doesn't outstay its welcome. Worth picking up if you see it for under a tenner.  But don't take it too seriously.

Mafia II Collector's Edition

As must be clear from my blog, I am quite partial to a collector's edition of a game, particularly those packed full of ephemera that I will likely never use (like the Guild Seal in the Fable III Limited Collector's Edition, for example). I'm particularly fond of packs of cards, despite not playing a  card game more advanced than 'Snap' since about 1987 (in-game poker in Red Dead Redemption excepted).

My latest purchase is the Collector's Edition of Mafia II. This retails at £60, which is pretty steep (more than I would be prepared to pay, certainly) but I picked it up, new, for only £14.99 from an Amazon Marketplace seller.

The contents are contained within a plastic outer sleeve, containing a 'steel box' style game box, a map and a hardback book (of the same dimensions as the game box).

Fuhgeddaboutit!

The matt-effect steel box is covered, front and back, with artwork from the game and is embossed on both sides with 'Mafia II'. Contained within is the game disk and a CD containing the orchestral score from the game (the latter disk is mocked up to look like a vinyl LP, which is a nice touch). There's a leaflet giving the track listing of the score and also a code for the 'Made Man' DLC pack for the game. This contains two exclusive cars and two suits for Vito, the main character, to use in-game.

The hardback book is made to look like an old-fashioned photo album and all the material inside is printed to look as if it were stuck in to it. The contents relate to concept artwork from the game - the characters, the vehicles, the settings, advertisements and weapons. Each section is prefaced by a introduction in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.

The final item in the set is a map of the game area, described as 'tear resistant' on the outer sleeve of the package (though I've not put that to the test, with either meaning of 'tear'). The back of the map is covered with 40s style advertisements, in keeping with the game's setting.

In game, the map can be accessed via the Back button

This is a decent package but I don't think it is worth the £60 asking (but certainly worth the £15 I paid for it).

The package in full

Game of the Year 2010

I feel a bit of a fraud detailing my games of the year.  I'm not a games journalist, I can't spend all my life playing games and, most relevantly, I probably haven't played all of what others consider to be the best games of 2010.  There are several games released this year that I intend to get when I have time - Enslaved, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and Mafia II - that might muscle into this list and there are a few other games, much-liked by others and included in their end of year lists, that don't float my gaming boat - Mass Effect 2 being chief among those.  I make no apologies for the latter - if I had played them, it is unlikely they'd have worried number 5 on the list but this is simply a  personal view - my favourites of the games that I have played (and have been released) in 2010.


5. Limbo (XBLA)


The first game on my list is also the shortest - you can finish it on a first play through in 5-6 hours and quicker thereafter - but it is a touchingly unique 5-6 hours.  I'll not go into further details here, as it is  reviewed elsewhere on the blog, only to say if you are after something different, sadly beautiful, strangely alienating but at the same time oddly touching, then this is a must-play game.


4. Fable III


I'm a big fan of the Fable series and, for a time prior to release, this blog turned into something of a Fable III fan blog.  Once the game finally arrived, I could see that it had its flaws - there were a few too many bugs  than you would expect for a triple-A game and the last section of the game (no spoilers) was a great idea that didn't quite work in practice.  Notwithstanding those issues, it was still an excellent game, with a great story, excellent (and genuinely funny) voice acting and Albion looking more beautiful than ever before and just as cohesive as in the past (you can easily believe from the natural and built environments that all areas are part of the same world).  If Fable II hadn't been so good, I might have rated this higher but it didn't quite reach the heights of the previous game in the series (though still better than all but three of the other games released this year).


3. Super Mario Galaxy 2


It's-a him, Mario.  An old school videogame, in that no attempts were made (nor should have been made) to inject realism into the Mushroom Kingdom, there were enough tweaks from the first game to make this a genuinely original addition to the Mario canon. I was continually surprised to find new worlds utilising new gameplay mechanisms (that were then discarded and not present on subsequent  planets), which other, lesser, games would have eked out across several levels.   If you are interested in videogames that make no apologies for being just that - games - then Mario's second visit to his galaxy (and best reason for having a Wii this year) is for you.


2. Assassin's Creed Brotherhood


A late entry, my having only received the game on the 25th December (although I'm 20+ hours into at the time of writing)  but one that very nearly  grabbed the top spot.  A follow-up of sorts to my game of the year 2009, Assassin's Creed II, Ubisoft has once again created a living, breathing (well, until Ezio gets to work), Renaissaince Italy.  The story is the same schlocky Da Vinci Code-lite and there are still the annoying modern day interludes but Ubisoft continue to learn from the errors in the first game in the series and the present day sections are kept to a  minimum.


I'm barely a third of the way through the main story but there are so many other, interesting and compelling things to do, that I don't even feel that there is a 'main story' and 'side missions' - there is just the world and how I choose to make my way in it.


1. Red Dead Redemption


I loved western films as a child growing up in the 1970s (a time when the TV schedules were full of them and of Sunday teatime western TV serials).  That fed into my play - like many boys, I had a cowboy outfit and  a holster and six-guns.  Red Dead Redemption allowed me to play as a cowboy again but without the embarrassment of being a 39-year old man dressed in chaps and having to explain that I wasn't in a Village People tribute band.


The graphics, varied gameplay, longevity, story, score (that I still listen to now) and voice acting (as good as in the voice acting benchmark of Uncharted 2) were all of the highest level.  I genuinely cared about John Marston by the end of the game and the world in which he lived (and there aren't that many games that you can say that about).


Honorable mentions must be given to Heavy Rain (pushed out of the top 5 by Assassin's Creed Brotherhood), ModNation Racers, Alan Wake, Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgement and Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands. All great games that I considered for inclusion in my final five.


2010 was a pretty good year for gaming, if a little less stellar than the superlative 2009.  There are some great games scheduled for release next year (I'm particularly looking forward to LA Noire) and I look forward to trying to compile another top 5 in 12 months' time.

Fable 3 Limited Collector's Edition unboxing

My blog has turned into a bit of a Fable III fan site over the last few weeks, with news of the game slowly being released, together with the launch of the Fable III Kingmaker smartphone app.  That trend continues with this post, as I received - a day before the European launch - the Limited Collector's Edition of the game in the post today (thanks shopto.net).

It's a lovely package, similar to the Alan Wake Limited Edition of a few months ago, in that the box is fashioned like a hardback book, with an outer slipcase.

Internet purchasers - it doesn't fit through a letterbox

It really is very 'bookie'

Inside the 'book' is the game box itself, sitting on a shelf that divides the inside in two.  Extra content is included in  a hidden drawer that is pulled out from underneath this shelf.

 et voila

The drawer reveals a pack of Fable III cards and a large, heavy, metal, coin that has a 'good' and an 'evil' side, ideal for assisting with all of those tricky questions in life.

The obverse

The side that isn't the obverse

The playing cards have Fable characters portrayed on the court cards, the aces and the jokers.

The illustrations are lovingly-reproduced

And there's a game as well!  As is usual with these packages, there is some exclusive content available for download - a new region (Hunter's Lodge), which contains a unique outfit from the land of Aurora, a  new breed of dog (the Boxer) and an exclusive quest (in which the player can earn the legendary sword, Wolfsbane).

The package in full

And now I'm off to play the game (having booked tomorrow off work)!

Fable III: Kingmaker - iPhone review

Just when I was beginning to think that it was itself a fable, the Fable III Kingmaker app was released on the iPhone yesterday.

As I've written before, the app is part of the Fable III marketing campaign. The app credits state that it has been developed by McCann London, the uber advertising agency that holds the Microsoft account (and whose beautiful art deco offices I walk past on the way to work).

Players register and are then allocated to one of two teams, the Rebels and the Royals (representing factions in the game). I'm a Royal, which would not have been my natural inclination - what with rebels being cooler -  but I figure if players were allowed to choose, we'd all be rebels.

The aim of the game is to have your faction control the most 'territories' (compartments of real-world locations). Each player can aid their team by 'planting' flags on their phone, with that flag equating to their location at that time. The faction with greater number of flags in a territory controls it.  Each day, players are given 10 flags to plant in the 'real world'. I commute between 'Middlinglande' (Herts & Beds) and 'Gorblimey' (London - all regions have comedy names bestowed upon them) for work and spread my flags around them both.

As well as aiding your faction, each flag you plant gains you gold, which you can upload to the game once it's released (and once you've linked Kingmaker to your Live ID). The flags are worth 50 gold each but that increases by multiples of 50 gold if the player links their Twitter and/or Facebook accounts. The app does then tend to spam your accounts, so you may prefer to link them to dummy accounts.

There are additional treasure sites, which the player can visit to claim the booty (first 100 players only at each location though). All of these are in GAME stores, possibly the first example of treasure being found in those locations. The app tells you where your nearest treasure site is - mine is 45 km away!

The app has been a little bit buggy for me at times, kicking me out while logged in and occasionally not calculating my gold properly (my last two flags today were only awarded 50 gold, rather than 150).









The app allows you to monitor how many flags you've placed and how many are remaining, together with an update on who controls the most territories.









There's further detailed analysis available from the Kingmaker website , (I'm currently rated 2435 for gold collected, apparently).










There isn't really much else to it but, for a free download that will provide an in-game benefit, I think it's a nice little app - kudos to Lionhead for coming up with it.

EDIT 17 October

I've had a few days to play around with the app now and think that it has serious problems with its functionality.  My app is linked to my Twitter and Facebook accounts - so, each flag should deliver 150 gold - but, after doing this for a couple of days, it has returned to only giving out 50 gold for each one.  The 'treasure' tab to the app - showing pots of gold near to the player, where a planted flag will deliver 2000 gold - no longer works (nothing appears when it is selected).

I still think that  the app is a good idea but it would have benefited from far more testing prior to release.  That begin said, I would sooner Lionhead concentrated on getting Fable III itself bug-free, than on using finite resources in polishing an app that only European smartphone owners can use.

EDIT 19/10/10

I've noticed that the 'Treasure' tab works  fine in Gorblimey (London) and I used it to rinse 11,000 gold during my lunchbreak.  It seems the streets of London are paved with gold, after all.  On returning to Middlinglande (Herts) it stopped working again.

FINAL EDIT (hopefully) - 20/10/10

The app updated this morning and now everything works - the extra gold for Facebook/Twitter linking; the Treasure tab in all regions; locations of all treasure shows up in the Treasure tab and the log-in/log-out process is streamlined.

Alan Wake - review

Alan Wake is a third-person psychological thriller from Max Payne developer, Remedy. Prior to release, it had, famously, 'enjoyed' a lengthy development period - up to 6 years, depending on which source you believe.  Accordingly, there was a lot of anticipation, tempered with a jigger of hype and seasoned with  a dash of fanboyism (as an Xbox 360-exclusive) ahead of its release.

Note torch.  You'll be shining it a lot

The titular Wake is a Stephen King-esque author suffering from writer's block, who goes on holiday to the small northwestern US town of Bright Falls with his wife, Alice (a ruse on her part to get him to write again).  Early on in the game Alice is abducted by dark, supernatural, forces and the rest of the game revolves around Wake's attempts to find her.

The 'dark supernatural forces' really are dark - their physical manifestations can be harmed by light, mainly that emitted by Wake's Energizer-eating torch (as well as ammo for his weapons, batteries for Wake's torch must continually be found). Those inhabitants of Bright Falls that become possessed by the dark must first be stunned by light before becoming vulnerable to gunfire. Light itself (from street lights, for instance) becomes a haven from the dark, where Wake can rest undisturbed (and trigger checkpoints).

There are driving sections.  They're not that good.

The game owes a debt to a wide-range of popular culture influences.  Bright Falls echoes the town of Twin Peaks and also Blue Velvet's Lumberton, as do many of its inhabitants (Cynthia Weaver *is* the Log Lady from Twin Peaks); the quest for a lost relative was seen in seminal survival horror game,  Silent Hill;  the dark presence reminded me of Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos and some of the set pieces towards the end of the game were extremely similar (though presumably completely coincidental, given their respective development cycles) to those in Left 4 Dead 2.

The game is extremely linear, as can be seen from the map below (I can predict confidently that this will be the only map ever published on my blog).

It is very much a case of 'got to A, then go to B, via C' and the characters that you meet dictate a lot of the story - and where you are to go next - to Wake, via cutscenes (the lack of story-breaking side missions seems quite a dated gameplay mechanic).

While the graphics are excellent, the voice acting is, at best, hit-and-miss - Wake is OK, Barry, Wake's literary agent is annoying (but not badly-acted annoying) but some of the voicing of the supporting case is very variable in its quality.  I quite like that, reminding me of the (far worse) voice acting in Silent Hill, which led you to wonder if the characters were 'baddies' or just 'badly acted'.

At the sheriff's.  Like in Twin Peaks.

I throughly enjoyed playing the game despite its flaws but, unfortunately, it's had a poor time at retail, selling (I read in 360 magazine a couple of weeks ago)  only 500,000 copies.  It was discounted quite heavily within a couple of months of its release (as I said here I picked up the Collector's Edition for only £20 in July) in the face of gamer apathy.

While it received some decent reviews (it got an 8/10 and 7/10, respectively,  in gamesTM and Edge, the UK's finest multi-format magazines and a 7/10 on www.eurogamer.net), it didn't receive the unanimous 9s and 10s that maybe some had thought that its pedigree  long gestation and would have warranted.  A large factor in its lack of activity at retail was its release, in the EU, on 14 May 2010 (coincidentally, my birthday) - just 7 days before the sublime Red Dead Redemption (which did, deservedly, receive stellar reviews).  RDR sucked  all of  the oxygen out of the games market in one giant copy-selling behemoth and another story-led game (though RDR's 'modular' story structure was far more innovative than that used in Alan Wake) didn't stand much chance.  The multi-format RDR has sold approaching 7m copies to date.  Even if that figure is split evenly between the 360 and PS3 versions, it has still outsold Alan Wake 7-1 in a similar timeframe. I would be very surprised if Microsoft thought that it would compete in a meaningful way with Rockstar's game but even so, half a million copies must be a disappointment.

Stuck on a boat and now some guy's doing his Eric Morecambe impression. Worst. Holiday. Ever.

It is unfortunate that the game has not been more successful.  As I said, it is very linear but it is difficult to make something as tightly story-driven as this without having a degree of linearity (for the same reason you don't start turn to the middle of a book after the first chapter, outside of a Fighting Fantasy book anyway), as Heavy Rain found earlier this year. If such games aren't successful, simple economics dictates that similar games won't be green-lighted in future - boxed console games cost millions to develop and consequently need to sell millions to recoup the investment.  If the moneymen think that Medal of Duty 4: Tactical Warfare is a better option than original IP, then that's what they'll fund (and that isn't necessarily a criticism of them - once upon a time, I qualified as an accountant).

Although it acts as a veritable magpie towards other fiction, the work of synthesis that Remedy has created is original in its own right and should be welcomed for that in an increasingly risk averse market.

Alan Wake Collector's Limited Edition unboxing

Pretty much since I started this site, I've been using 'Statcounter' to monitor its traffic.  One of the tools that this application offers is the ability to see which of a site's pages are more popular than others.  I've noticed that  popular pages seem to be those that show an unboxing of a limited edition of game, presumably something that is interesting to those who, probably sensibly, opt for the vanilla version of a game (thereby saving them £5, £10 or more).

I've recently picked up the Alan Wake limited edition online, for a bargain price of £20 (new and delivered). The RRP of this version of the game was £50, so presumably it sold as badly as the main edition, hence the deep discount.

As it's been put for a few months now, I hadn't intended to blog about it but in the  interests of giving people what  they want, this is what is included in the package. 

Inside a cardboard slip file is a large box, fashioned to look like a doorstep-like hardback novel, tying in with the eponymous protagonist's in-game career as a Stephen King-esque novelist.

You can just about make out the 'Alan Wake' signature on the box

The 'book' is hinged and opening it reveals that it is a DVD boxset-style slip case, containing three items.

There's a slim hardback book ("The Alan Wake Files"), the DVD game case and a two-disc case containing the soundtrack CD and the 'bonus disk'.  The soundtrack to the game hasn't really grabbed me while playing (unlike, say, the Red Dead Redemption soundtrack, that I also own having been given the limited edition to that game for my birthday).  Still, it is a nice addition  to the package. 

The soundtrack/bonus disk case.   

The bonus disk includes a few videos about the game and its developer, Remedy and some slideshows of artwork (I haven't looked at these too closely as I don't want any spoilers).  It also unlocks some in-game content  - a commentary for the game (like a director's commentary on a DVD), that can be switched on when you next play the game itself.  Switching this commentary on (in the 'Options' on the main game menu) unlocks an avatar award for your Xbox 360 avatar.  

Two Xbox 360 dashboard themes can also be unlocked through the bonus disk too, allowing you to turn your dashboard into Bright Falls or Elderwood (basically, the same place at daytime and nighttime.  This is the first theme I've ever had, so I don't know if it is a particularly good one but it looked nice enough to me.

The photo below shows Bright Falls and also shows my avatar modelling the game's sole award (jacket & scarf combo).

Cowboy hat model's own

The book is a collection of 'fiction' and 'non-fiction' (though all, of course, fiction) and compliments the characters and action of the game.  The 'author' of the book is a character in the game and the whole authentic-looking (down to review quotes on the dust-jacket) package treats the game as 'real'.

Alan Wake's first published work, apparently

The final item in the package is a code to download the game's first DLC, only released a week or so ago.  This is included in the game case, along with the instruction manual.

Alan Wake is one of the most impressive limited editions I've seen, even at the full RRP.  For £20 it was an absolute bargain.  As for the game, I've played a couple of episodes (the action is divided into a number of 'episodes', like a TV series) and I'm enjoying it so far.  It reminds me a bit of PS1 game Silent Hill and TV programme Twin Peaks (and, continuing the David Lynch theme, the film Blue Velvet).  There's also a 'HP Lovecraft' feel to it, underlined by one of the trees in a forest being signposted 'Great Old One'!  

The complete package

EDIT 13/9/10: I've now played through the game and my review is here.