Roundup time! Kirby and the Amazing Mirror (3DS) Actually, the GBA version I got as part of the 3DS Ambassador thing. I thought I’d played it before, but I don’t actually remember any of it. It’s very confusing, as there’s no linear progression from level to level (like in Kirby’s Dream Land) or a map where you can replay previous levels (like in Kirby’s Adventure). Instead, there’s a complicated map system where you have to find different exits to access …
Another round-up post, I’m afraid! Batman: Arkham City (PC) Despite the hassle it is to set up (all those cables and adapters and begging Windows to let audio go out the HDMI port please), and the fact it’s a PC game, I’m still enjoying it. It feels like driving a car when you know one of the wheels is going to fall off at some point. You enjoy the ride, but are on edge that at some point you could …
There was a demo for this a few months ago. It wasn’t very good. It was “classic” Sonic in a re-imagined Green Hill Zone, ruined by awful physics, jerky scrolling and not being able to see anything as the graphics were too “busy”. Oh, and Sonic was about one tenth the size he should have been in relation to all the other objects and baddies. This demo improves on the previous one greatly, by fixing much was wrong with the physics (although …
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 …
As much as I liked the previous C&C games on the PC, and the best RTS game ever made ever Dune II, I can’t get on with them on consoles. The controls have never fitted a controller, and I found the C&C 3 demo last year too fiddly and complicated. Since this is based on the same engine, I expected the same problems. And, yes, I struggled my way through the training and the demo Russian mission. I enjoyed it, …
Since Fallout 3 and A Kingdom for Keflings, I’ve not really made a proper start on any other games. I’ve downloaded a played a fair few demos this week, however: Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?Apparently not, as I failed at £25,000. Even though my 5th Grader helper didn’t get the answer either, so therefore she was as thick as me. The question was about baseball, so it isn’t surprising I didn’t know what the answer was. And what …
Oh Sega, how I once loved thee. Your happy Sonic games with their speed and platformingness and fun. Why hast thou forsaken me with this swill? Sonic Unleashed, like other recent Sonic games, is crap. Well, the demo is crap at least. Really crap. And there isn’t even a werehog stage to play, and the werehog stages haven’t exactly been top of reviewers’ lists of Ace Things About Sonic Unleashed. It’s like they took all the worst bits of all …
WHAT This is the most disjointed, bizarre, and nonsensical game I’ve played since 2DO on the Saturn. There’s running, platforming, puzzling, first person flying, side-on fighting, QTEs galore and tag team action. It’s very, very odd. And wrongness.
Well, the demo of the new Scene It gives a horrifying glimpse into the world of Xbox Avatars. It also seems to cover a better range of films than the previous game, although some of the quiz rounds (the crossword one in particular) are totally baffling.
It’s not a Banjo-Kazooie game. It’s not a proper platformer, you have none of the abilities that made Banjo-Kazooie different to other platformers of it’s day, and it plays like a confused mess. Sorry, Rare, but once again you seem to have forgotten how to make games. Either you do a Banjo platformer, or you do Nuts & Bolts sans Banjo and Kazooie. What you’ve got here is a mishmash of illfitting game elements, in Banjo paint. You’ve alienated those …
I thought Tomb Raider Legend looked impressive, but this is head and shoulders above it. More than that even. It looks amazing. And it plays really well too. It’s fluid, varied, well animated, and gorgeous – and that’s just completing the demo. I’d be very likely to buy it, but I can wait. The last two Tomb Raider games I’ve bought were at bargain prices only a few months after release, so I fully expect this to do the same.
Demo catchup time again: PDC DartsCrap. But with amazing northern loons doing “commentary”. NBA ’09Crap. You can’t even shove. And there’s no BOOMSHAKALAKA. Beat ‘N GroovyImpossible to control and crap. Why is the green “note” X? And the blue one the d-pad? What? Crazy MouseAwful. Worse than crap. Age of BootyOK, but looks like it’ll be a bit tedious. It’s like a RTS only with no S.
Yes, I know I bought the Wii version this morning. I just thought I’d try it and see how it fares on the 360. Of course, it’s virtually identical. I’m glad I did buy the Wii version though, as the 360’s pad isn’t designed for digital control – the dpad is in the wrong place, and the stick has too much dead-area. As well as that, the added XBLA bits on the menu break the retro-game illusion too.
I played quite a few Xbox 360 demos at the weekend. Some thoughts: Mercenaries 2I found this too hard. I admit I wasn’t trying very hard, but it did seem impossibly difficult. The explosions were nice though. Except when my jeep was what was exploding. Oh, and respawning enemies in this sort of game == badness. RocketBowlDire. No, it really is. Domino MasterMeh. Feeding Frenzy 2Rubbish. FractureSpace Marinezzzzzzzzz… Yeah, the raising and lowering land was great. But this isn’t Doshin …
I’m actually rather impressed! It looks great, controls pretty well, and was fun to play! Quite a surprise, actually. I’m not sure I want to buy it, but if I see it really cheap I’d certainly be tempted.