The Lair of the Monkey

The rule must go something like “if this is a new Japanese fighting game, then we really must include bizzare hairstyles that are customisable, so players can make their avatars look even weirder”.  I definitely don’t get it.  Maybe it’s for the best, as it makes no sense whatsoever, especially in a fighting game.

As you all know though, I’m a huge fan of Tekken - any Tekken.  Ergo, I’m rather liking the look of the new Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion (not sure if I’ve put the colon in the right place there).  If you want to know more, go to the official Tekken 6 site.

A recent marathon session of Fallout 3 set me back at around 2 hours (an extremely long time for me, given that I don’t actually have all that much time to play when I write so much).  I thought I’d tell you what I had:

1. Two coffees
2. A bag of crisps
3. A Mars bar

As you can see from this list, gaming clearly does nothing for your health or fitness, as I consumed rubbish and in essence sat exploring a virtual world.  Yes, this article is tongue-in-cheek…

If you like comedy takes on video games, then look no further than this edition of Stolen Pixels.  It pokes fun at the ‘Perk’ system featured in Fallout 3.  The ‘less crashes’ perk certainly gets my vote, as I’m still having problems with the game.  Most recently, Dad and Prof Li turned blue, apart from their heads, which turned a decidedly zombie-ish green.  Horrifying.  Simply horrifying.

It’s been a while since I’ve written one of these – not least because so much has been going on, much of which unfortunately hasn’t been around playing games.  First of all, I can safely say that I HAVEN’T been playing Gears of War 2.  I don’t know why, but it simply hasn’t grabbed me.  Maybe I played through the original too many times or something.

I have been playing a lot of Fallout 3 however.  As is the usual with these free-roaming, pick up quests as you go games is that I found myself at first at a loss of what to do.  I wandered too much.  As such, I got quickly bored and put the game down.  Then I picked it up again and got involved in another quest.  And then put it down again.  This is my pattern with such games.  It’s not a fault with the game; it’s probably all in my approach.

Tragically, I did find that Fallout 3 was buggy on my machine, with occasional glitches, and even more occasional crashes which can lead to tears at bedtime.  Nonetheless, neither of these problems had any real effect on how truly brilliant I think the game is.  The whole world and all of the details therein are crafted with such a wonderful level of detail that you’ll not want to leave.

Whilst fantasy games are more my thing (and yes, I have role-played and I do drink real ale) there’s something so appealing to the kitsch, post-apocalyptic 1950’s universe of Fallout 3 that you simply have to play it, whether on PC, Xbox 360 or PS3.

In complete contrast to the aforementioned action role player, I’ve dug out Fight Night Round 3 (Xbox 360).  I’m not sure why, but it’s a very physical game, not just in game.  I’ve found that you build up an amazing amount of sweat on the controller, as well as sometimes getting achy hands.  I finally put it down when my boxer (and my thumbs) looked oddly swollen.  I will get that title belt even if it means RSI…

Yes, this is a UK based gaming blog, which means you’re probably as upset as I am that the US has had this game for some time and we can now expect it start of February 2009.  Why the delay for the latest Silent Hill offering?  Frankly, I have no idea.  It can’t be to make the game better.  It also makes little sense to release it after the Christmas sales rush.  Oh well.  Woe are we, the European Gamers.

There’s no doubt that little Flash games are brilliant.  You can have a quick bash of them during your lunch break, or you can use them to unwind when you get home, safe in the knowledge that they won’t overly tax you.  Robo-Evolution is a little gem of the genre, where you have to collect various powerups to create the ultimate robot.  Bear in mind there are only a couple of levels, but your robot can start out life as any of these items:

• Egg
• Flower
• Pear
• Lips
• Deep-fried prawn

So, all very strange, mysterious and very Japanese.  I love it.  Go play Robo-Evolution now!

9/10
Whichever system you buy Fallout 3 on, believe the hype.  I never normally say that, but this is truly an epic game in a number of ways…ranging from the many ways in which you can choose how to play the game all the way through to the superb atmosphere provided throughout.  In a different style to my normal reviews, I thought we’d break it down into the component elements:

Graphics
Fallout 3 uses the same engine as The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion (Bethesda’s other masterpiece), and it shows.  Huge vistas are shown before you, with crumbling landscapes, all destroyed by-ways and all manner of interesting buildings just waiting for you to navigate to.  Perhaps one of the most notable areas of improvement however are the character models.  The facial detail is certainly improved.

Does it look good by today’s standards?  Oh yeah.  Even on my laptop I had it running at quite a high resolution – although when there’s a lot going on you may notice a bit of a hit in performance.

Sound
The music is subtle and can add a great deal of tension to the actual gameplay, whilst the sounds can at time have you on edge.  The wilderness is a strange place that should have you on edge – and the effects you’ll hear will provide just that atmosphere.  Character voice acting is on the whole very good, with few jarring moments.

Gameplay
There’s a lot in Fallout 3 that makes it a special game – even the character creation (that brings you up through your various critical moments in the vault of being born, being ten and taking your tests) tells you the game is S.P.E.C.I.A.L.  - which is exactly what the character stat and levelling system is!

To read more, visit my review on Forever Geek.

Well, the review is coming soon, but here are my initial thoughts on this game from Bethesda:

• Excellent character creation system
• V.A.T.S. works well - which I’m surprised at
• Excellent, tense action sequences
• Good character models
• Some side quests to rival the main story
• Some slightly tedious fetch and retrieve quests
• A few crashes - Bethesda have already mentioned there’ll be a patch

I’m really glad the game is living up to my expectations and the best element so far is the ability to just wander off wherever you like.  A briliant sci-fi, action, blackly humerous RPG.

Kotaku has a brilliant excerpt from another article about Half-Life 2.

The crux of it is that Gordon Freeman remains silent in order for us to be more immersed in the game and experience it on a whole new level.

Do you believe this?  Here’s my response:

Obviously this post is a little late - but then this is being uploaded on All Hallows’ Day so it’s not that far off.  With that in mind, before I go and cook something like pumpkin pie, let’s see what you could (or should) have been playing on the ’scariest game of the year’:

• Forbidden Siren (pictured)
• Silent Hill (just about any of them)
• Resident Evil 4 (it does have some spooky moments, especially at the start)
• Clock Tower
• Condemned

There are other horror games out there that are more than worth a look - and Dead Space is a brilliant game with a fantastically scary sci-fi horror edge.  I’d go so far as to say it does for games what Alien did for sci-fi.  More info as I get to grips with it.  I’m off to go and make that pumpkin pie and find more horror films to watch as Resident Evil 4 isn’t as scary with an AK-47 with infinite bullets…