I decided to plod on with this some more, mainly because it wasn’t terrible and I’ve not got anything else on the go at the moment. I’m glad I did. Despite not really changing the formula all that much (aside from there being fewer soldiers to shoot and more aliens), somehow Crysis 2 has gone from mediocre to pretty actually fantastic. I’m not sure why. I am now drawn into the story, and often with me a decent story is …
My first completed game of 2012! Unlike Super Street Fighter IV, I didn’t class this as complete by beating the final boss as every character. Instead, I’m basing it on completing Story Mode (or Chronicle, as it’s called). In this mode, you play through the plot of all the Dead or Alive series, one after another. Well, I say plot – it’s all a bit bizarre and doesn’t make a lot of sense. Mind you, I’ve never really played Dead …
A roundup of some of the games I’ve been playing in the last couple of weeks: Pullblox (3DS) Completed this a while back, but have gone back to finish some of the bonus levels that you unlock, and some of the user generated ones I’ve found strewn across the internets. It’s still lovely. Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (360) Returned to mop up a few more achievements and actually play some of the side missions and games I’d totally missed. There are …
Despite enjoying the original Scribblenauts, I didn’t buy the sequel (until I saw it for a fiver in Morrisons this week) for several reasons. Firstly, the later levels on the original were too hard. Not hard to find the items you have to draw, but more hard because of the fiddly controls (mainly moving Maxwell) and trying not to knock stuff over or position things slightly wrongly. There were also a lot of platforming sections, or “peril” situations where it …
I got this for Christmas, and it’s the main thing I’ve been playing then and all this week. I’ve come to the conclusion that it is the best Mario Kart game yet. It doesn’t have the silly gimmicks of the GC and Wii games. It’s graphically better than all previous titles. It doesn’t have the big empty tracks of the N64 version. And it has a return of the coins from the GBA and SNES games. It also seems that …
Another game series ruined by Sega. The first two Super Monkey Ball games were awesome, but they slid down to this – an overly simplified, challenge-free entry into the series. Levels have barriers or “grooves” so you don’t die. There are no tricky turns, no jumps, no difficult levels at all. In fact, I found myself finishing most worlds with more lives than I started with. Still, it was fun. Ish. Shame it didn’t carry on with another 8 worlds …
14 hours in, and the main 198 levels are, finally, completed! There were some real head scratchers in the last few sets of puzzles, but thankfully my “tactic” of leaving a level I was finding impossible, then returning the next day, seemed to help. Of course, there are now the 50 or so bonus levels, and untold user-made levels to work through, so it isn’t the end really. Fantastic game, well worth the £5.40 or whatever it was, and far …
I was expecting to be disappointed. After all, how could I be anything but? Although if you’re set up to be disappointed and your low expectations are pretty much met, how could you actually be disappointed? Deep. Things started out surprisingly well. Classic Sonic’s first few levels were pretty good, actually, even if they did still feel like the physics were on the wonk. Even Modern Sonic’s levels were bearable for a while, but as the game progressed things just …
There was an update to the 3DS last week which added a few features (like 3D video recording and marginally better friend list management), and as part of it there was a new Streetpass Quest II “mission” for the Mii Plaza. Hurrah! Unfortunately, you can’t do it unless you’ve completed the first Quest twice, when I’d only done it once. So, armed with 300 play coins, I set about doing it again. Surprisingly, I managed it with “just” 240 coins …
Actually, this isn’t awful. Well, it is in that it isn’t anywhere near as hard as the original two Gamecube games, but it’s actually playable and fun. For the first two worlds, at least. I’ve no idea if it gets any better or worse after that as that’s as far as I got before I decided to return to Pullblox.
It may be completed, but while bad people remain unfacestabbed, the assassinations must continue! I’ve spent most of my time plundering the Lairs of Romulus, and also finishing off the remaining Leonardo’s Machines bits (although one still needs to be done), as well as mopping up all the feathers, some Borgia Flags, and lots of treasures. I’ve also tried completing the Shop Quests, but I’m still a few items short. Alongside all this, I’ve also been sending my assassins off …
TOO MANY GAMES. That is, too many 3DS games. Too many! Who’da thunk that a few months ago? Other than me, I mean. Pullblox is a simple puzzle game where you “pull” shaped bits of wall out of the back of the screen, then climb up them, pushing them in and pulling them out as necessary to progress. And it’s wonderful. It’s a great idea, it’s lovely and happy blue skies and stuff, and it even has a level editor …
I don’t know what to say. At some point in the game, it says “Classic Sonic can now use the Homing Attack!” and I died inside. I don’t want to talk about it.
Well, I wasn’t expecting that. I mean, I was expecting to finish it, of course – but I didn’t expect to play though Sequence 5 and get to the end and have “Sequence 9 Complete” come up. Turns out I was much further through the game than I thought. Since I’ve spent about 80% of the game “off-story”, that means the main story was very, very short compared to Assassin’s Creed 2. I don’t really mind as there’s been plenty …
On the eShop today was this – Zen Pinball. I’m quite a fan of Pinball FX (by the same devs) on the 360, and have put far too much time into some great handheld pinball titles like Metroid Pinball, Pokémon Pinball, Sonic Pinball Party and so on, so was really looking forward to Zen. And it doesn’t disappoint. The 3D is fantastic, and really adds to the game. The physics are spot on, and it feels like a real table. …
