Co-oping it
Well, it's been a quiet few months for Nintendo in our house - We picked up Professor Layton back in November and while it is a curious village, we're somewhere around puzzle 40-something and no further.
Not because we've run out of hint coins (far from) - just haven't really felt like switching the DS back on since then. I did mention Chrono Trigger in a post a good few months back (HERE). That replaced Lunar Knights before completion though again I've lost interest in it long-term - still kicking my feet in ancient footprint tracking for those that know the game.
The Wii has also been quiet though there have been a few flutterings of life - mostly Darkside Chronicles which mrs zombie killer received for Christmas and which we completed in short order. There's still Tofu to shoot and a fair number of S-ranks to unlock but the credits have rolled and the disc is back in box.
It was replaced by Dead Space: Extraction which is not all that bad but doesn't seem to be quite as player friendly - which is to be expected to some extend, I guess. We've reached the Ishimura but we aren't caring about any of the characters trailing along with us (why do we have some major characters for a game that should be a lot more isolating? The obvious answer is that co-op play means that the lone explorer vibe would be tricky but as co-op play is essentially the main character dual wielding rather than two separate people, it wouldn't have been that much of a stretch. The dual wielding aspect of co-op play also grates a bit when the players have to have the same weapons but don't share ammo for the weapons. Mrs zombie kiler spends her time struggling to maintain ammo levels and I kept having to actively forgo pickups and point them out, which just doesn't feel right.
What is right is that Nintendo have finally allowed demo games.
Of course, in typical Nintendo fashion, there are only a few available and there is no 'demo' category in the Shopping Channel. It did mean I could finally try out My Life as A Darklord and it wasn't as bad as the reviews made out. Of course, I could only play the first few levels and previous experience makes me a little cautious around Final Fantasy defense games ...
It's also made the memory restrictions of the Wii more apparent - I've around a dozen games saves, a couple of demos, all the Channels and three SNES games (Cybernator, Secret of Mana and Metroid) and the slots are noticeably down to the low hundreds.
And of course Nintendo have decided to retract the demo 'offer' with the end of January. Just sometimes, this company really don't quite understand.
Low memory is also getting to be an issue on the PS3 - my 60Gb drive has less than 4Gb usable space left. Indeed to get the MAG beta download meant some serious shuffling.
Yes, I was able to get onto MAG - though it took over an hours download time and then more than another hour to get past all the network error messages - I had time to check the forums and see that this seemed to be common.
The game itself plays quite well - the customisation options were basic ... I presume a limitation of the beta ... and the command structure didn't really seem to be present though I did get some FRAGO experience points so there were definitely some command level players.
My thoughts could be loosely summed up by this recent Penny Arcade comic
It certainly seemed to reward the snipers more than the objective rushers - though on more than one occasion I was able to rush an objective where the defense were used to racking up the headshots. It was here that the lack of an organised command structure was noticeable - fairly often it felt like being an individual under the same banner than than a cohesive unit. It was rare that anyone on the same team was there to support me when I reached the objective.
An aside here - apologises to the guy I mistakenly team killed trying to secure an objective. Some of the SVER and Valor skins look a little similar for my tastes.
When the command structure worked, it worked very well and the tide could switch surprisingly quickly so that either side had a chance up until the last few moments. I have a feeling that the majority of the grunts in MAG are going to be gamers who only play a few hours a week - if the game can deal with this then it stands a good chance of being a keeper.
Also on our PS3 is our copy of Batman: Arkham Asylum. This game is great and Batman is perfectly realised in this. My biggest request for the already confirmed sequel is that they tweak a little of the predator sections - it did seem a little arbitrary whether Batman could glide kick, or takedown a mook from up high. Some form of co-op would be nice, even if online only in the inevitable challenge maps. I'm not certain how Nightwing, or Batgirl, would manage the glides, though characters with different skill sets is nothing new.
I've also finally managed to get through all the levels of Lego Star Wars. The imbalance between Force and non-force characters is addressed a little by having some blaster types able to dodge shots. That Traveller's Tales hadn't got the formula right is clear though, particularly on levels like the Speeder level on Endor. Mrs zombie killer didn't join me through the last three episodes though the AI mostly fine (if a little fond of getting in the way of lightsabre swings.
I also don't like the Mos Eisley Cantina as the hub - seems a little more claustrophobic than Dexter's cafe from the first Lego Star Wars game. And yes I know that the Cantina IS more claustrophobic - I question whether that it's the best first view point for a game that sells on it's light hearted appeal, though I freely admit to not being able to think of a location that would be better suited, such as the college in Lego Indiana Jones
Talking of which, I'm still just two achievements from that game being my next 100% and my first non Live Arcade game. Also my first non tower defense game as it happens ... if I could just get that grenade blast and nazi hat thing sorted ...
But that will have to wait as I've finally been trying out some of the games of the year ... of 2007.
First up was Call of Duty 4 which I enjoyed playing through just as Modern Warfare 2 hit the shelves. And I'm currently clearing the galaxy of geth in Mass Effect 1 as paragon soldier Sheppard. For once on a thrid person viewpoint, wife number one doesn't get the motion sickness that happens on many of the Gears of Dead Tomb God of Uncharted Batman games out there.
In something a little more up to date, I also gave the online demo of Lost Planet 2 a go for a couple of hours. The game is solid enough and I reckon I will end up purchasing it, though not until the price comes down.
I do have a couple of comments - firstly to killswitchrick - you don't need to start a Live party to play, just hit the A button ...
And secondly to (I think) majorlane1: congratulations, you are the first person to make me turn my headset volume ALL the way down. This guy was crushed by the big bad in the demo in the first minute or so and all I heard for the next couple of minutes was a pre-pubescent voice going "what the hell? What the shit?" before going really crazy - like non compos mentis.
Cue volume going down.
As to the game itself, it does rely on co-op play though I question the logic of a boss that requires you to be EATEN to inflict damage.
And going back to hard drive woes, the 360 HDD is no better. I think that a second HDD purchase is in order, based on the prices of repair that I've been able to get. I've cleared the cache and even re-formatted the drive (which took a surprisingly short amount of time) and Crackdown, Shadow Complex and Gears of War 2 are still problems.
So of the three main consoles, two are running out of space and the third needs replacing.
Sigh.
Not because we've run out of hint coins (far from) - just haven't really felt like switching the DS back on since then. I did mention Chrono Trigger in a post a good few months back (HERE). That replaced Lunar Knights before completion though again I've lost interest in it long-term - still kicking my feet in ancient footprint tracking for those that know the game.
The Wii has also been quiet though there have been a few flutterings of life - mostly Darkside Chronicles which mrs zombie killer received for Christmas and which we completed in short order. There's still Tofu to shoot and a fair number of S-ranks to unlock but the credits have rolled and the disc is back in box.
It was replaced by Dead Space: Extraction which is not all that bad but doesn't seem to be quite as player friendly - which is to be expected to some extend, I guess. We've reached the Ishimura but we aren't caring about any of the characters trailing along with us (why do we have some major characters for a game that should be a lot more isolating? The obvious answer is that co-op play means that the lone explorer vibe would be tricky but as co-op play is essentially the main character dual wielding rather than two separate people, it wouldn't have been that much of a stretch. The dual wielding aspect of co-op play also grates a bit when the players have to have the same weapons but don't share ammo for the weapons. Mrs zombie kiler spends her time struggling to maintain ammo levels and I kept having to actively forgo pickups and point them out, which just doesn't feel right.
What is right is that Nintendo have finally allowed demo games.
Of course, in typical Nintendo fashion, there are only a few available and there is no 'demo' category in the Shopping Channel. It did mean I could finally try out My Life as A Darklord and it wasn't as bad as the reviews made out. Of course, I could only play the first few levels and previous experience makes me a little cautious around Final Fantasy defense games ...
It's also made the memory restrictions of the Wii more apparent - I've around a dozen games saves, a couple of demos, all the Channels and three SNES games (Cybernator, Secret of Mana and Metroid) and the slots are noticeably down to the low hundreds.
And of course Nintendo have decided to retract the demo 'offer' with the end of January. Just sometimes, this company really don't quite understand.
Low memory is also getting to be an issue on the PS3 - my 60Gb drive has less than 4Gb usable space left. Indeed to get the MAG beta download meant some serious shuffling.
Yes, I was able to get onto MAG - though it took over an hours download time and then more than another hour to get past all the network error messages - I had time to check the forums and see that this seemed to be common.
The game itself plays quite well - the customisation options were basic ... I presume a limitation of the beta ... and the command structure didn't really seem to be present though I did get some FRAGO experience points so there were definitely some command level players.
My thoughts could be loosely summed up by this recent Penny Arcade comic
It certainly seemed to reward the snipers more than the objective rushers - though on more than one occasion I was able to rush an objective where the defense were used to racking up the headshots. It was here that the lack of an organised command structure was noticeable - fairly often it felt like being an individual under the same banner than than a cohesive unit. It was rare that anyone on the same team was there to support me when I reached the objective.
An aside here - apologises to the guy I mistakenly team killed trying to secure an objective. Some of the SVER and Valor skins look a little similar for my tastes.
When the command structure worked, it worked very well and the tide could switch surprisingly quickly so that either side had a chance up until the last few moments. I have a feeling that the majority of the grunts in MAG are going to be gamers who only play a few hours a week - if the game can deal with this then it stands a good chance of being a keeper.
Also on our PS3 is our copy of Batman: Arkham Asylum. This game is great and Batman is perfectly realised in this. My biggest request for the already confirmed sequel is that they tweak a little of the predator sections - it did seem a little arbitrary whether Batman could glide kick, or takedown a mook from up high. Some form of co-op would be nice, even if online only in the inevitable challenge maps. I'm not certain how Nightwing, or Batgirl, would manage the glides, though characters with different skill sets is nothing new.
I've also finally managed to get through all the levels of Lego Star Wars. The imbalance between Force and non-force characters is addressed a little by having some blaster types able to dodge shots. That Traveller's Tales hadn't got the formula right is clear though, particularly on levels like the Speeder level on Endor. Mrs zombie killer didn't join me through the last three episodes though the AI mostly fine (if a little fond of getting in the way of lightsabre swings.
I also don't like the Mos Eisley Cantina as the hub - seems a little more claustrophobic than Dexter's cafe from the first Lego Star Wars game. And yes I know that the Cantina IS more claustrophobic - I question whether that it's the best first view point for a game that sells on it's light hearted appeal, though I freely admit to not being able to think of a location that would be better suited, such as the college in Lego Indiana Jones
Talking of which, I'm still just two achievements from that game being my next 100% and my first non Live Arcade game. Also my first non tower defense game as it happens ... if I could just get that grenade blast and nazi hat thing sorted ...
But that will have to wait as I've finally been trying out some of the games of the year ... of 2007.
First up was Call of Duty 4 which I enjoyed playing through just as Modern Warfare 2 hit the shelves. And I'm currently clearing the galaxy of geth in Mass Effect 1 as paragon soldier Sheppard. For once on a thrid person viewpoint, wife number one doesn't get the motion sickness that happens on many of the Gears of Dead Tomb God of Uncharted Batman games out there.
In something a little more up to date, I also gave the online demo of Lost Planet 2 a go for a couple of hours. The game is solid enough and I reckon I will end up purchasing it, though not until the price comes down.
I do have a couple of comments - firstly to killswitchrick - you don't need to start a Live party to play, just hit the A button ...
And secondly to (I think) majorlane1: congratulations, you are the first person to make me turn my headset volume ALL the way down. This guy was crushed by the big bad in the demo in the first minute or so and all I heard for the next couple of minutes was a pre-pubescent voice going "what the hell? What the shit?" before going really crazy - like non compos mentis.
Cue volume going down.
As to the game itself, it does rely on co-op play though I question the logic of a boss that requires you to be EATEN to inflict damage.
And going back to hard drive woes, the 360 HDD is no better. I think that a second HDD purchase is in order, based on the prices of repair that I've been able to get. I've cleared the cache and even re-formatted the drive (which took a surprisingly short amount of time) and Crackdown, Shadow Complex and Gears of War 2 are still problems.
So of the three main consoles, two are running out of space and the third needs replacing.
Sigh.
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