2011 - that was the year that was
Blimey
Where does the time go?
I'm aware of just how long it has been since I last posted and while I haven't given up gaming (far from it) it is a little perturbing how little appears to have changed since my last post.
Lets see, the Wii is almost exactly where it was a year ago. Wii Fit did see a few months of use but my daughters later bed time and her insistance on 'helping' by standing on the board means that the Wii has seen very little usage over the entirety of 2011
The DS is also very quiet. Ghost Trick is a very good game and is certainly something to purchase if you have any interest in any kind of puzzlers - it kept me engrossed throughout with a wonderful twist at the end though what it's replay value is I can't say. Haven't picked up any other games since and the commute home is now just for reading.
The 3DS is tempting (as is Vita) but I think the better value these days is a tablet (I've currently got my eyes on Asus' transformer range with Android or Windows 7) - if I only had a few hundred quid to burn so easily
The 360 and PS3 continue to swop around as to which sees more use - some of which is due to our current internet package having a fairly tight download limit. The PS3 is currently the more likely used console. Mrs Zombie Killer and myself have been co-oping Lego games the last few months (First with Lego Pirates, then Lego Batman and the improvements in things like camera and character choosing are fairly marked between those two.
Of the two main games sharing the optical drive, one is Uncharted 3 which is not is good as the second in the series. It's lacking the sparkle (though my word it has the shine) and it seems to be going through the motions a little more. And the camera really would much prefer it if all the player had to do was to press a button occasionally for 'start action sequence' rather than trying to actually move Drake through the world. And the second?
Wait for it ...
Assassins Creed 2
Really.
I've finally played it enough to reach Venice and am about to start the first main assault from the Thieves Guild with all assassination contracts, treasures, tombs and codexes found to this point.
It is a little distracting to be swopping between Ezio's super sneaky kill ability and Drake's inability to remain still when in cover - as has been the case throughout the Uncharted games, I really struggle at the stealth aspect.
Talking of stealth aspects I struggle at, Call of Duty: Black Ops was on the PS3 for a week or so. The sequence at the beginning of Rebirth through the dockyard I actually couldn't get past until I ignored my 'guide' and rushed in with a hatchet rather then try to sneak and continually get spotted by the second guard. Apart from that though, the game was pretty enjoyable. Very much set-piece to set-piece but that is all it tries to be, unlike the adventures of Nathan Drake.
Remaining on the PS3 for a little longer, the 500Gb is installed (and an easy job that was) and the issues surrounding the PSN hack breach earlier in the year mean that I've tried out Playstation Plus (with a bunch of trophies from Burnout Paradise). I'll leave my current thoughts on digital games for another post (if I can actually get back in the habit of posting)
There has been some hardware updates for the 360 also - Mrs Zombie Killer received Zumba back in Easter for a woefully underused birthday present but Kinect has seen a little more use - though not much more. While they have finally integrated Kinect support into the dashboard proper, I don't like the new design and seem to spend a lot of my time looking in sub-menus and sub-sub-menus for things like IX and the new games releases - or waiting for the thumbnails to cycle through.
There haven't been any downloadable games that have really sparked for me either. I liked the demos of Bastion and Clash Of Heroes but not enough to purchase them, though this is partly due to Assassins Creed: Brotherhood and Mass Effect 2 (STILL!), sitting on the shelves mocking me. And while I did purchase Ms 'Splosion Man, it hasn't captured me the way the first one managed.
I am interested in the new DLC for Defence Grid and in a new version of Plants Vs Zombies but there is still currently a pretty big list of games that I have yet to complete and which really should take priority - these include the 360 version of Batman: Arkham City and the PS3 versions of Deus Ex and Infamous (yes the first one)
2011 was a good year for games and I did manage to keep up with some (Modern Warfare 2 was an enjoyable romp over the summer months, Burnout Paradise kept the racer in me happy for a time and Ratchet and Clank established themselves in our gaming collection with their last two titles.
I think without the easy access to online gaming (at least easy access that doesn't cost!) I've lost interest in keeping up and I really have lost interest in having to play a game constantly to maintain a rank (the days of UT2004 are a long time back now).
It would be nice also if my wife was able to enjoy games without inducing a splitting headache (Uncharted 3 can manage this far too easily) - the inability to customise joypad layout continues to annoy and all the worries of digital downloads have taken some of the fun out of gaming
Where does the time go?
I'm aware of just how long it has been since I last posted and while I haven't given up gaming (far from it) it is a little perturbing how little appears to have changed since my last post.
Lets see, the Wii is almost exactly where it was a year ago. Wii Fit did see a few months of use but my daughters later bed time and her insistance on 'helping' by standing on the board means that the Wii has seen very little usage over the entirety of 2011
The DS is also very quiet. Ghost Trick is a very good game and is certainly something to purchase if you have any interest in any kind of puzzlers - it kept me engrossed throughout with a wonderful twist at the end though what it's replay value is I can't say. Haven't picked up any other games since and the commute home is now just for reading.
The 3DS is tempting (as is Vita) but I think the better value these days is a tablet (I've currently got my eyes on Asus' transformer range with Android or Windows 7) - if I only had a few hundred quid to burn so easily
The 360 and PS3 continue to swop around as to which sees more use - some of which is due to our current internet package having a fairly tight download limit. The PS3 is currently the more likely used console. Mrs Zombie Killer and myself have been co-oping Lego games the last few months (First with Lego Pirates, then Lego Batman and the improvements in things like camera and character choosing are fairly marked between those two.
Of the two main games sharing the optical drive, one is Uncharted 3 which is not is good as the second in the series. It's lacking the sparkle (though my word it has the shine) and it seems to be going through the motions a little more. And the camera really would much prefer it if all the player had to do was to press a button occasionally for 'start action sequence' rather than trying to actually move Drake through the world. And the second?
Wait for it ...
Assassins Creed 2
Really.
I've finally played it enough to reach Venice and am about to start the first main assault from the Thieves Guild with all assassination contracts, treasures, tombs and codexes found to this point.
It is a little distracting to be swopping between Ezio's super sneaky kill ability and Drake's inability to remain still when in cover - as has been the case throughout the Uncharted games, I really struggle at the stealth aspect.
Talking of stealth aspects I struggle at, Call of Duty: Black Ops was on the PS3 for a week or so. The sequence at the beginning of Rebirth through the dockyard I actually couldn't get past until I ignored my 'guide' and rushed in with a hatchet rather then try to sneak and continually get spotted by the second guard. Apart from that though, the game was pretty enjoyable. Very much set-piece to set-piece but that is all it tries to be, unlike the adventures of Nathan Drake.
Remaining on the PS3 for a little longer, the 500Gb is installed (and an easy job that was) and the issues surrounding the PSN hack breach earlier in the year mean that I've tried out Playstation Plus (with a bunch of trophies from Burnout Paradise). I'll leave my current thoughts on digital games for another post (if I can actually get back in the habit of posting)
There has been some hardware updates for the 360 also - Mrs Zombie Killer received Zumba back in Easter for a woefully underused birthday present but Kinect has seen a little more use - though not much more. While they have finally integrated Kinect support into the dashboard proper, I don't like the new design and seem to spend a lot of my time looking in sub-menus and sub-sub-menus for things like IX and the new games releases - or waiting for the thumbnails to cycle through.
There haven't been any downloadable games that have really sparked for me either. I liked the demos of Bastion and Clash Of Heroes but not enough to purchase them, though this is partly due to Assassins Creed: Brotherhood and Mass Effect 2 (STILL!), sitting on the shelves mocking me. And while I did purchase Ms 'Splosion Man, it hasn't captured me the way the first one managed.
I am interested in the new DLC for Defence Grid and in a new version of Plants Vs Zombies but there is still currently a pretty big list of games that I have yet to complete and which really should take priority - these include the 360 version of Batman: Arkham City and the PS3 versions of Deus Ex and Infamous (yes the first one)
2011 was a good year for games and I did manage to keep up with some (Modern Warfare 2 was an enjoyable romp over the summer months, Burnout Paradise kept the racer in me happy for a time and Ratchet and Clank established themselves in our gaming collection with their last two titles.
I think without the easy access to online gaming (at least easy access that doesn't cost!) I've lost interest in keeping up and I really have lost interest in having to play a game constantly to maintain a rank (the days of UT2004 are a long time back now).
It would be nice also if my wife was able to enjoy games without inducing a splitting headache (Uncharted 3 can manage this far too easily) - the inability to customise joypad layout continues to annoy and all the worries of digital downloads have taken some of the fun out of gaming
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