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Ahhh the gaming drought is over! I love this time of year, even if  my bank balance does not.

1. Driver: San Francisco (Xbox 360)
2. Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Xbox 360)
3. Minecraft (PC)
4. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (Xbox 360)

Driver took the number one spot this month despite heavy competition from Deus Ex. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Driver is really good! A lot better than I was expecting, and quite possibly some of the most fun I’ve had with a driving game.

Not far off completing Deus Ex now, just need a chunk of time spare so I can sit down and crack on with it. Not the type of game I can play in 20 minute chunks really. Is it as good as the original? Well, no.. but it’s still a great game and certainly more enjoyable (to me) than Mass Effect or most of this generations RPG offerings.

The new Minecraft 1.8 patch added a lot of reason for me to pick it up again. Lot’s of changes and reasons to explore and fight things again. Game had kind of got boring once I set up the Wheel of Pain mob grinder and had no need to ever leave my ice lake, now I’ve started a new world, minus the mob grinder, and gone back to basics.

Creative mode was probably the best update with 1.8 though. I started out using it to test out some redstone ideas and before I knew it I was working on an adventure/puzzle map! I think I put more time in on creative now than I do on survival. Maybe because I feel like I already beat survival, many times on many worlds. Creative actually gives me a point to all the building beyond killing time.

As you know, Bad Company 2 is a frequent guest of the “Playing this month…” section so not a lot to say on that front. Although… I will say, I’ve seen more cheap tactics over the last three nights than I’ve seen in months! Crate bashing, 8 man strong medic trains, 8 man strong USAS recon groups, circle jerking, tank sniping, even C4 on the bloody UAV has been going on. From level 50 players too? I know you’re probably bored of the game at this point, but really? No need for the cheap tactics..

Still pretty slow on the gaming front… even more so with the PS3 drive dying.

1. From Dust (Xbox360)
2. Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii)
3. Minecraft (PC)
4. Jedi Academy (PC)

Minecraft and Jedi made it back into the rotation again as they usually do when other sources of games dry up. Finally completed Donkey Kong, can’t recommend that game enough. Even though I’m an established “disappointed with the Wii” kinda guy.

From Dust is a nice throwback to the days of my Populous past. I loved that game back in the day and have been following From Dust for a while now. Was going to pick it up on PSN or PC but as the Xbox got an early release I grabbed it there instead. Very, very fun game. Will try and get a review up asap.

For the first time I’d like to open “Playing this month…” up to the readers for once. Any suggestions for games to play this month? Any platform, any genre… within reason.

Leave a comment or shoot me an email with your game suggestions.

I don’t normally do simulation games. The closest I have been to that side of gaming was back in the late 90′s when I was pretty keen on flight sims but beyond that I don’t have much experience. It’s not that I’m against them, I just don’t dig that genre so much.

However when offered a free code to try one, even if only temporary… well I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, and so it was I found myself playing Railworks 2 last week.

I’ve never been a train guy really, but I’ve always liked model railway sets from when I was a kid and my brother had one set up in his room. Always a lot of attention to detail present and Railworks 2 is no different.

For a train fan, I’m pretty sure this game is unrivalled. A lot of attention to detail has gone into the game which is obvious from the outset. Featuring a huge selection of trains to drive and play around with (plus many more through the use of DLC), plenty of routes and objectives to complete, and a world editor allowing you to create your own routes and stations/towns etc. – it’s a digital train set without the expense.

I jumped into the game in free mode and had a look at the York to Newcastle route as it was the route I am most familiar with. I say familiar, I’ve been to York/Newcastle stations and I know some of the surrounding area around York. Anyway, as far as I could see, both locations were recreated accurately and I was able to have a relaxing coffee while I watched the scenery zip past at a speed I’m pretty sure was violating some kind of law.

There are numerous views you can choose during travel, in-cab, multiple aerial shots etc., you can even choose to ride in style in the carriage of your choosing should you wish. The in-cab view offers you the ability to drive the train literally “hands on” with the controls of the train recreated and available to be clicked, pulled, or pushed using mouse clicks. If you don’t want to keep flicking to the in-cab view to adjust speed (or repeatedly blast your horn whilst zooming through stations refusing to pick up passengers) there is a handy overlay on-screen that allows you direct control of the train via helpfully labelled controls.

From what I can tell, this overlay is a new addition to the series intended to ease newcomers into the perhaps otherwise daunting control system. The tutorials are also a great place to start for a newcomer and after whizzing through the basics I was able to complete a few of the objectives without too much trouble. Well… I did de-rail a few times, but that was just for fun

The objectives start with simple tasks such as picking up and transporting passengers from station to station, then grow to be more complex with each requiring certain ‘checkpoints’ to be completed within the objective. This could involve shunting different carriages around (is shunting the right term? Who knows.. moving carriages), refuelling your train mid-route, time trial style challenges, and more.

Despite not really being into the simulation genre, or trains as such, I had more fun with this than I expected and would certainly recommend it to any train simulation fans out there. There’s lot’s of attention to detail, extra content available via DLC (and presumably community modifications), and a great editor mode to play with.

Well.. I thought it was bad but I’m not sure it was bad in a ‘two month turnaround from launch to closure’ kind of way but there you have it. It’s over and done with.

Luke Halliwell (Ex-RTW Employee) has a great three part post up talking about some of the reasons behind APB’s failure, namely mismanagement.

Very interesting read.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Well, it’s certainly taken some time to get round to writing anything about this game. According to Xfire I’ve played for around 110 hours so I guess it’s about time I gave it a crack.

Firstly, JKA is an old game… about seven years old in fact. I could kick myself for missing this when it came out, but at the time I will have been entering into a contract to sell my soul to Monster Hunter so it’s no suprise really. A lot of games slipped past me back then as nothing was dragging me away from hammering Rath’s in the face and boozing it up with everyone in Hunters Tavern.

Anyway, I’m playing it now… better late than never and all that guff.

Read more…

How to avoid the pirating of the PC version of Modern Warfare in four easy steps:

1. Increase the price
2. Remove dedicated servers
3. Cap your servers at 9v9
4. Remove ability to kick people playing music down the mic/cheaters

This is a prime example of how to screw your community in the ass with as little effort as possible. When the PC sales tank, lets see how fast IW/Activision pull out the piracy card as the reason the game failed on PC.

I’d already decided long ago to vote on this with my wallet and wait for it to pop up in the pre-owned bin for the 360. Every day my decision gets validated more and more.

After 2 years I got round to re-installing Guild Wars once again. Blame the Guild Wars 2 trailer for that

I’d forgotten how good GW actually is to be honest. When I first played it I barely made it out of Pre-Searing Ascalon with a Warrior/Ranger before going back to Warcraft. Since I’ve given up that dark addiction for some time now, and Darkfall refuses to let me try before I buy, I decided to go for some good old free-to-play fun and try Guild Wars again.

I rolled another Warrior (familiar with them, know where all the Pre-Searing Warrior skills are etc… plus, I like to hit things in the face with a Hammer!), claimed my GOTY bonus items and got going. Once I got used to not being able to jump, or path through bushes.. or off hills (grr) I had a great time blasting through the old content again.

Over a couple of nights I checked off all the Quests I could do in Pre-Searing, paid a Gate Monkey some cash to let me go farm the Northlands for a bit, gave Gwen all the guff she wanted (and received a tapestry thread from her? wtf do I do with that?)… after a period of dye farming I figured why wait and did the quests that end with the Searing.

I didn’t remember the PvP part from the last time I did it, so until my memory kicks in, that was my introduction to GW PvP. Reminded me a lot of Warhammer Online now I think about it. Definitely something I’ll be trying more of. After an 8/0 victory against a team with what seemed to be 2 human players on vs me and my henchies, I am now entering the ruins of Ascalon for the first time in 2 years.

..and that’s where I left it. 2 Platinum in my bags, a bank full of various dyes and a ton of crafting materials. Now I just need to figure out what the hell is going on!

Still a little early for a conclusive opinion but I enjoyed what I have seen so far. Fingers crossed a couple of guildies I know come back to the game!

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