deKay's Gaming Diary

Torn. Very torn.

You see, Lego games are some of the BEST. THINGS. EVAR. However, Harry Potter and Harry Potter Related Things are some of the WORST. THINGS. EVAR. So Lego Harry Potter is an irresistible force meeting an immovable object, innit?

I don’t know. It was OK. But I hated it. And I loved the Legoness. And having idiot wizard children and beardman and a rubbish dog was stupid. But smashing things and collecting studs was great. But it was Harry Potter and I wanted to smash my TV instead. Gah!

You know I’ll buy it.

All done! Finished the final two achievements (replay all the levels in Quick Play, and the quite difficult Complete Hangar 51 In Under 5 Minutes).  The Hangar 51 one took 6 or 7 attempts, but finally I managed to do it in 4:46 having fluked three hits on the end of level boss. Phew!

That means I’ve 100%ed it, 1000/1000ed it, and seen and done everything the game has to offer. Hurrah!

Well, it’s about time I finally completed something! It’s been months! Admittedly, I’ve been somewhat busy for the last couple of months, and consoleless for around a month of that time, but still.

Not only have I completed Lego Indiana Jones 2 today, but I then went on to 100% it. Since I’d been playing to get 100%, that wasn’t too long afterwards as I’d already done nearly everything necessary. The final few % came from just buying stuff in the Creator mode, which was a bit unsatisfying. I still have two achievements left to get though.

My overall verdict of the game? Pretty good. The hub worlds were a bit confusing to start with, but I grew to love them and I hope future Lego games also have them. The levels themselves were a little short, and the Super Bonus Levels were pretty rubbish (not a patch on the equivalents in previous titles, anyway) since you just smash trees and collect studs.

Still rattling through this. I’ve now 100%ed both chapters 1 and 2 of The Crystal Skull, completed both the Super Bonus levels for doing so, and completed (but not 100%ed) both chapter 3 and Raiders of the Lost Ark.

You know, at first I wasn’t sure of this new hub-based level structure, but I’ve grown to really like it. I’ve noticed there’s no Free Play mode any more either – instead, you redo old levels, differently. Like the giant spider creature you fight: Go back there later and you do the same level only it’s all trampolines and careful jumps rather than a boss fight!

It’s pretty much all I’ve played this week. And it’s very good. Better than the other Lego titles? Yeah, I think so.

I’m now most of the way through Chapter 2 of the Crystal Skull. The hub world here is huge, and the puzzles in it and hidden items really add to the fun. There just seems so much more to do in it than any of the other Lego game “hubs”.

What I’m not so keen on, however, are the vehicle “bash them off the road” levels. Mind you, I’ve not really liked any of the vehicle levels in any of the previous games, and these are different in that you can get out and walk, so it’s not all bad.

It was my birthday yesterday, and my lovely wife and daughter bought me this (and two other sequels – Mass Effect 2 and Bioshock 2). So I set up my 360 for the first time in three months and had a go.

It actually took quite a while to get into the game, but once in, it was all great!

Clearly it’s going to be more of the same Lego stuff, but there are differences. Each “episode” has its own hub world where some of the action takes place, and other levels (“proper” and bonus) are opened up from. There are puzzles in the hub to do this. The actual levels themselves are more like the original title, only (so far) they’ve been a fair bit shorter. Not that that’s a bad thing, of course.

The graphics have been really upgraded since the last Lego title too. No longer do they just look like shiny PS2 bricks – they’re proper HD now!

So far, I’ve completed two “proper” and three “bonus” levels, as well as some of the smaller story events, for The Crystal Skull.

There are still lots of gigs to do, and I only have around half of the 1000 possible stars, but I completed the story today.

There’s not a lot else to say about it, really, apart from that the finale track was a bit poor compared to The Final Countdown (which could have the the finale, only they added a bit more game onto the end).

I’d also like to know why every single time I play a random setlist gig, I have to play that Counting Crows track. Every. Single. Time.

This is pretty much all I’ve played since it arrived on Friday. The first thing I’d like to point out is this: Lego Rock Band is 896896347286463 times better than Guitar Hero World Tour. The game’s Story Mode structure is great, it’s funny, and – most importantly – the track list is excellent. World Tour’s is just pants.

Of course, the tracks in Lego Rock Band are more “mainstream”, and not just obscure B-sides from 1970s dinosaurs.

Really enjoying it so far, and have just shy of 300 stars. I’ve mainly been playing guitar, but have done a few vocal tracks (two while trying to play guitar at the same time – it didn’t go well) and a few bass tracks.

Makes my left hand ache somewhat, though.

100% completed! Hurrah!

This week I’ve been pecking at the remaining minikits, which for some reason were mostly on the Penguin levels – both hero and villain. The last minikit I got was by far the most difficult in the game. Harder than the whole of the rest of the game put together (erm, even though the rest of the game was very, very easy…). You have to slide down an icy slope, through 5 gates. Only you can’t jump, and you can barely veer to either side, making it virtually impossible.

I realised that swapping character after the first two gates made it easier, but that still relied on your CPU controlled partner crashing into a stalegmite or three before you pass the second gate (otherwise they overtake you, missing gates).

Anyway, all done! What next?

92.6% done, apparently.

I’ve got all the power bricks from all the Hero missions, most of those from the Villain missions, all bar about 3 of the minikit pieces from the Hero missions, and about half of those from the Villain missions.

I’ve also got a few people to rescue on various levels, and I just know I’m going to get frustrated on the ice-slide section of one of The Penguin’s levels.

I’ve now played through all the Hero missions again, bar three (I think) and got all of the Power Bricks and Minikit bits in them all. Pretty much, anyway.

I’m still to work through the rest of the Villain missions though, and I’ve also got 200 achievement points yet to unlock too. I think I’ll get most of them all at the same time, though, once I’ve 100%ed the game. Currently I’m at around 85% done!

Of course, I haven’t yet completed it 100%, but I’ve done all the story missions (and got Super Hero/Super Villain on them all) and the two bonus levels.

It really is a great game, and so much bigger than Lego Indiana Jones. I do get the feeling some of the suits for Batman and Robin are a bit of a contrived device, and swapping characters and suits in Free Play mode is a bit of a chore as there are so many to cycle through, but overall it really is very good. Better than Lego Indiana Jones? I think, perhaps, maybe it is. Perhaps.

Yesterday morning, I turned on my 360 and bought some Microsoft Points so I had enough to buy the GTA IV expansion “The Lost and Damned”. I then bought the expansion. Then set about downloading the 1.8GB it takes up. At about 70% through the download, I had to go out to the shops.

While I was out, I saw Lego Batman cheap in the shop and bought it. And that’s all I played all weekend. Lost and Damned be damned!

So how is it? Well, it’s the same game as Lego Star Wars and Lego Indiana Jones, only with Batman and Robin in. There are other differences, of course: you get different suits to allow you to do things like glide and walk up walls. The vehicle levels from Lego Star Wars that were (thankfully) missing from Indiana Jones are back, although they’re better than in Star Wars.

Once you complete each episode, you also unlock extra “villain” levels, although I’ve not yet played any of them.

So far, I’ve been enjoying it a lot. It isn’t quite as good as Indiana Jones, but it’s still lovely. And, naturally, there’s the OCD-factor which is keeping me going!

And it’s all over! Today I obtained 100% completed, as well as the remaining achievements. And very good it all was too – especially for the OCD-inclined gamer.

OK, so I haven’t 100%’d it yet. And I’ve only managed to get 17 of the 18 True Adventurer targets. Strangely, I managed all 17 first go without even trying, whereas the one I missed (“Motorcycle Escape” on Last Crusade) just seems impossible – not least because of all the rocket launcher men that appear right at the end.

But I’ll keep playing – at least to get all 18, and I’ll probably go for all the parcels to post too. Not sure about all the artefacts though – they seem to be way too hard to find.

Oh my! Who’d have thought that I’d get some game-time this weekend? Not only did I manage to start this, but I also managed a few minutes on a few demos – Legendary (crap) and Skate 2 (acebest!).

I made a start on Lindy yesterday, completing the first two levels of Raiders of the Lost Ark. I was surprised at just how good it was, as I seem to recall the lack of guns (compared to Lego Star Wars) was a bit of a let down when I played the demo. After a few minutes, I’d completely forgotten about it and got on with punching and kicking and smashing everyone and everything. OCD FTW!

Today, I carried on and finished off Raiders of the Lost Ark, and then completed the first two levels of Temple of Doom. Hurrah for sleeping babies

It’s good, but it just doesn’t feel quite as good as Lego Star Wars did. I think the lack of a gun is a big issue, as the whip is too slow and inaccurate, and punching requires you to get too close. I did find a crossbow near the end of the demo level, but it only seemed to allow two shots before it vanished.

And it’s far too easy to fall of cliffs. Grr.

Getting bored with this now. I’ve got 43 gold bricks, and need 60 to open up Lego City, apparently, but getting there is pretty soul destroying. Basically, I have to redo all the levels I’ve done previously to get a True Jedi rating, then redo them all again in Free Play (and get True Jedi there too), then redo them all yet again in Super Story mode. And then, if I’ve missed any Minikits, I need to do the levels again to find them.

I’m all for extra play modes, and the Free Play mode does mix things up a bit, but it’s still basically playing the same levels over and over and over and over, essentially killing the fun element of the game leaving behind the flaws. Oh well.

So I did redo Chapters 3 and 6 of Episode IV, found a whole Minikit on one and got another True Jedi thingie, but my soul is being drained somewhat now. I think I need to give the game a break for a bit.

Played some more this afternoon. Firstly, I had a go in two-player, working though some of Episode IV. My wife was player two. And, there are problems. Not with her, but with the camera forcing one or the other player to be pushed into holes, or behind or under things preventing either player from progressing. In all, it was pretty hard work just to get to the end of the second chapter.

Later, I played through the rest of the Bounty Hunter missions. Managed to complete the remaining nine missions in under 20 minutes in total, so they weren’t exactly difficult. Got two more achievements for my trouble, though.

With the main story complete, I’m mopping up the extras now. First up, was the Super Story version of Episode IV. Which was crap.

It’s basically just all the chapters of Episode IV one after the other with no breaks and no extras. It also only notched my completion percentage up by just 0.2%, even though it took me over an hour to play. What a waste of time.

After that, I finally managed to unlock the Bounty Hunter missions, curiously by buying Admiral Ackbar from the character list. Completed the first one (to find R2-D2) quite easily.

It might only be three days of play, but my saved game says 12 hours. Cripes.

So I finished off Episode VI. The first three missions were really long, but the final couple were really short – a fight with the Emporer, and a Millenium Falcon strike on the new Death Star. And after that? It was complete!

However, there’s more to collect and stuff. So I went back to Episode IV, Chapter 1, and completed it in Free Play with Darth Vader and Boba Fett. Ace.

Worked my way through all of Episode V today. I’m not really enjoying the spaceship flying/shooty sections all that much. They don’t gel all that well with the rest of the game. The sequence on Hoth was OK, but it wasn’t made clear as to what you were supposed to do. This resulted in my shooting down AT-STs and drone things for a good hour before I realised you had to blow a hole in a wall with a bomb you could tow. Duh!

After V, it was onto VI, and I’ve done the first two chapters there. I’ve spent ages around the cantena too, getting studs and buying characters and extras.

I don’t much like Star Wars, and Lego stopped really interesting me when I was 13. And everyone knows that all film tie-ins are rubbish. So I bought it anyway.

To be fair, it was only £16, and it has had some really good reviews.

And you know what? It’s actually pretty good. It’s not fantastic, but it’s original, funny (more so if you’ve seen the films) and fun to play. So much so, in fact, that I sat and completed Episode IV (that’s the first third of the game) in one sitting.

Had a few niggles with it so far, like the targeting sometimes causing you to bitch-slap your comrades, and sometimes you not having a clue what to do next (when in doubt, smash everything), but overall it’s great so far.