The Lair of the Monkey

Well, if you can’t beat em join em so the saying goes.  That being the case, I have.  I became an owner of an Xbox 360 yesterday evening, Premium of course, along with Gears of War, Ghost Recon, and two wireless controllers.  Given the nex-gen nature of the console, I was pleasantly surprised by the ease of setup, which was extremely painless.  The kit is also extremely tidy.  However, the built quality didn’t look to impress that much, when I could barely take out the battery pack.  However, this turned out to be me being an idiot.

It was a job getting the damn second controller out of the pack though - what do they produce that in, a vat mixed with kevlar?  Nonetheless, the 360 itself was a breeze to plug in, though I was dissappointed by the lack of s-video (I only have HD on my laptop monitor and don’t yet have the VGA cable) and frankly awed by the external power supply.  Things ran nice and smooth, though the volume of the console itself remains noticable - something I thought would have been addressed by this time (what, are we onto like 3rd generation 360’s now or still second gen?).

The sleek design makes me think of a quote from Alan Partridge (if you don’t know who he is, look here) - “ladyshapes”.  The console is sleek, if dull.  Kind of like an I-Pod I guess is what they were going for.  After seeing this Half Life 2 case mod, it certainly makes me think that I want to do something with mine, I like my stuff to be original.  At this point I’m thinking of some cool tribal designs for the clip-on front using accrylic paint, but we’ll see.

I’m keen to use it as a media centre, however my jaw dropped when I saw the price of the wireless addition.  Hmmm not impressive.  On the other hand, I guess I can just connect it to my wireless laptop - right?  I guess I’ll find out soon.  I’ve already started building up some (not many though) gamerpoints but I’m keen to make my 360 write its’ own blog.  Anyone remember how you do that?  Well anyway, I’m off to play a little more Gears of War.  It calls me, and I’m keen to play, along with burning a few more cd’s onto the thing.

Well, I’m really cracking on with Fiona now.  She’s much harder than she was, coming in at level 4 already.  She’s levelling nicely, but not too fast.  Remember, the monsters tend to stay 1 level behind you, so don’t gallop through as you need to make sure you have the kit to combat them as well when it puts you into a group battle situation.  To date, I have become the hero of Kvatch, found some Daedric worshippers (which I haven’t visited yet) but mainly I’ve been working my way through the Fighters Guild.  It’s also been cool to have enough magic points to cast a good bunch of spells before running out.

In general, I’m really appreciating having a horse (I lost the last one when I stole another) to just wander around the world with.  Remember, you can discover places this way that you wouldn’t otherwise find.  On a similar note, if you want to get more kit, no doubt some of the soldiers you stormed Kvatch with will have died.  Go back repeatedly to collect the stuff on their bodies, and sell it.  You can make a reasonable amount of gold this way.

I am looking forward to pushing on with the main story, as I’ve been through all of this so far the first time.  Soon though, I’ll be further in than before, and I guess that’s when it’ll get really interesting.  Nothing too funny this time unfortunately, however I’ll try to do more mad things next time I play.

For those of you who’ve seen it, you’ll know why I like it so much.  Big soldier looking mean to the song ‘Mad World’.  It’s a winning combination.  you can watch it on youtube here - but please, try and see it on TV.  Oh how far games have come…

As part of a new section, I’ll highlight some special deals where and when I see them.  In this case, rather special is the CD-Wow price for Medieval 2: Total War, at the very low price of only £19.99.  Go snap it up here.

Well, I got to play a lot more of Gears of War - and I must say the atmosphere in-game is very good indeed. I was playing the game with a relative who purchased it, and was just as impressed as I was. Although the graphics are really very good indeed, they are soon overlooked as you engage in the absorbing gameplay elements of the duck-and-cover, return fire and flanking scenarios. The first beserker encounter is far and away one of the best set pieces in any game for a long time - not since Half Life have their been such cool scripted sequences. It is very obvious that okay, Gears of War provides nothing incredibly breakthrough in terms of gameplay, but it does have the x-factor - the thing that would make games otherwise a bit dull without it. It also has some cool characters, guns and boss type enemies. Go buy it!

My gaming habits this week have been varied, ranging from putting Ridge Racer 6 into my basket for an online retailer (thus forcing myself into the purchase of a 360) and then cancelling at the last minute, to completing F.E.A.R.. Whilst the action was good - much like the new James Bond (Casino Royale), the exposition was better. The sci-fi/horror genre blending of F.E.A.R. really got to me, and even though Alma was a crazy psychopath (and psychic) by the end of the game, you can’t help but feel sorry for her. [spoiler alert] All she wanted was her baby (and revenge). Why then she tries to kill you when you do meet her is a little inexplicable - though you do try to kill her(!). [spoiler alert over]

I’ve played a little more of Project Zero (yes, I love my horror games); however, I much prefer to watch it being played. It is very captivating viewing and I’m hoping to play a bit more of it over the weekend. As I’m having a day off from the office today, there’s a possibility of Dead Rising or something else and a 360, but we’ll see. For the rest of this week I’ll be a bit retro with KOTOR, as well as once again journeying into the world of Cyrodil. Barrow Hill will also be visited, to see if I can work out where to go next.

Malfurious has been a computer and video games player for a long time, and he’s pretty damn good at it. Recently, due to other commitments, he’s changed his gaming habits - however I’d still say he’s hardcore. So, lets get down to the questions.

Malfurious - until recently you were a pretty hardcore player of World of Warcraft. How easy was it to give that up?
To be honest it was extremely hard. If I had my own way I’d still be playing now lol, there’s nothing worse than having to delete characters you’ve spent a good deal of the past year and a half of your life building up, I guess I could say I was proud of them in a way.

Could you see yourself playing an MMORPG again? What do you think the attraction is for these games?
Like I said, I would be playing it now if I had the choice. I’ve switched to Guild Wars now since there are no monthly costs and at the minute this system is working for me. I’d say the biggest attraction is the social side of it. I’m sure everyone will agree playing games by yourself is fun……..but there’s nothing better than playing with other people it just adds a whole new level to the game play, and of course you’ve got someone to gloat at .

Do you play any games online now?
I play Guild Wars but not as much as I did WoW, other games I play online at the minute are Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne, Command and Conquer Generals: Zero Hour and the Warhammer 40,000 games as you can tell I’m a bit of a RTS nut online . I don’t play console games online yet because of all the extra costs and so on, but I think I’ll probably try it out in the near future especially when the Wii comes out.

You recently purchased an Xbox 360. What do you think of it so far?
I think it’s a great machine, but I can’t really comment much at the minute since I’ve only got one game lol, the £50 price tags on the games is pretty steep so I haven’t had a chance yet to get anymore, that’s the one thing I would change for the system. I like the idea of the achievements [on games] it’s a good idea and I’m sure for online console players it’s a big talking point in the forums and a way to show off your skills! (more…)

I don’t know why I’m surprised, but if you take a look at the Gamespot reviews, not a single nex-gen game has received a score into the 9.0 mark.  Worrying?  I dunno.  Dissappointing, definitely yes.

Finally, the Wii is almost upon us (well some of us, not we in the UK sadly).  This means that the big games sites are starting to review some of the games available on launch.  One of these, and perhaps the hottest anticipated, is of course The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess.  To save your waiting, go look at the review at Gamespot.  For those who are truly impatient, I’ll tell you the score: 8.8 out of 10.  Interestingly, there’s a massive uproar about the criticism of the game, and many have suggested that it should have got a higher score.  Myself, well I haven’t played it so I can’t say either way.

I will say though that the written aspect of Gamespot has always been excellent - so even if you don’t agree with the final score go take a look at what Greg et al have to say.  On a similar note, someone mentions in the feedback that probably the most famous games mag ever - Famitsu - gave it what translates to about 8.75.  That being the case perhaps such a score is justified.  Does this mean that the Wii isn’t the next big thing?   Well I guess that remains to be answered.  The Wii is different, but just like any other console no-one should expect the release-day games to be 90% plus - they rarely are on any system.

Although that’s not a great title, given this one is probably one of the best I’ve heard, it’s definitely up there with Solid Games.  Anyway, my top tip is to have a listen to Twitch Video Games Podcast.  Yeah, they’re in the US, but they are very funny and know their stuff to an insane level to boot.