Bought Test Drive Unlimited 2 (PC) on Tuesday, May 17th. It was on sale for $10 at Direct2Drive. After experiencing the flashy presentation of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, Test Drive Unlimited 2 comes off as a bit bland. That works in favor of the relaxed nature of the game where you can spend all day cruising the roads of Ibiza or Hawaii. Another difference between the two games is the sim-lite driving model of Test Drive Unlimited 2. No more easy power slides to build up a boost bar; instead it is careful braking to hit a turn's apex at the maximum possible speed. I'm quite enjoying the driving Test Drive Unlimited 2 is offering. However, I could do without some contextual elements in the game. The awful Solar Crown story and cosmetic surgery are minor negatives for me. It would be so much nicer to have no story and no explanation for customizing your avatar's face.

After pulling the trigger for 10 hours, I finish the single-player campaign of Section 8: Prejudice (PC). Some time was spent in multiplayer and idleing so the campaign probably takes 7-8 hours to finish. In a break from my norm, I played the game on the Hard difficulty setting. Some spots proved to be challenging, but more were frustrating exercises in memorizing patterns or exploiting flaws in the AI. It didn't help things that the I wanted to finish the campaign in my last session instead of taking my time and enjoying it. 

Early in the month of April, I got Battlefield: Bad Company 2 - Vietnam (PC) from the Electronic Arts Download Manager. After an uncomfortable delay, I got my key for the downloadable expansion and started playing. I was surprised to see that I had everything unlocked. I guess it's because of my rank in regular Bad Company 2 or perhaps it's the default for the Vietnam expansion. The game is mostly the same great action Bad Company 2 is except in a different setting. The older time period does play in to the weapons and gadgets you have as you won't have any red dots or motion sensors to use. Most of the maps seem to favor closer engagments compared to Bad Company 2 which makes the combat quite messier.

At the end of the month, I managed to pick up a copy of Trauma Team (Wii). I've heard many good things about the Trauma series with the latest entry being the best and most accessible. I've spent time with all six of the playable characters and had a wonderful time. The story is cartoonishly goofy in an anime-esque manner, and I find it charming so far. The four characters focused on medical operations are tense and exciting. Each character has a different wrinkle that sets them apart from each other such as multiple patients, tracing chains, or different injection timings. The two other characters are focused on narrative, logic, observation, and matching puzzles that are a refreshing break from the intense surgerires. The diagnostician and forensic doctor play like an interactive House and CSI episode, respectively. As a small fan of both shows, these two characters are a real treat to play.    

The Potato Sack deal was live over the weekend on Steam. I didn't want the whole pack, but I did pick out two games that interested me. One is the pre-purchase of an upcoming game by Dejobaan Games LLC. titled 1... 2... 3... KICK IT! (Drop That Beat Like an Ugly Baby). It seems to be another video game that generates levels and environments from your music library and I'm always interested such things. I haven't gotten the pre-release software to work as I get a "Steam servers are too busy" error. I guess I'll just have to wait. 
 
The second game is one I've been meaning to get. It is AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA! A Reckless Disregard for Gravity. The game is also by Dejobaan Games LLC and I played it during its various beta phases. It's a game about BASE jumping where there are various stunts you can pull to rack up a high score. Even if score hunting isn't your thing, the thrill of leaping off the starting rooftop and plummeting thousands of feet before you open your parachute is always exciting and frightening. A nice sound design touch is having a female voice to count off your building kisses and a male voice to count off your building hugs. That makes it easier to keep track of your progress as your vision tunnels during a jump.

It seems Capcom has been making some price cuts recently because I picked up the bonus edition of Monster Hunter Tri with a black Classic Controller Pro for the nice price of $39.99. The regular edition is now $29.99 so it's nice to get a Classic Controller Pro for $10. I have yet to pop the disc in the Wii, but I played and enjoyed quite a lot of Monster Hunter Freedom 2 on the Playstation Portable. I look forward to playing a Monster Hunter game with the help of two analog sticks and a nicer difficulty curve.

On the Windows PC side of video games, I made my first purchase from Good 'Ole Games (gog.com) last weekend. Stronghold was on sale and I decided to pick that up along with Freespace 2 for less than $10. Stronghold is a strategy game that is sort of tower defense before there was tower defense. Various scenarios in the game task you with building castles, defending against enemies, or seiging other castles. Certainly not my kind of game, but my cousin wanted it. Now the space fighter combat of Freespace 2 is much more my kind of game. I've been meaning to pick it up for a while seeing as how few space combat games there are. It took a while to get the old game to work properly. After modifying the game with the Freespace Open Source Project, the game works like a charm.    

After playing for 42 hours, I finish the story mode of Assassin's Creed 2 (PC). I'm very happy how the sequel is all-around such a better game than the first. There's more stuff to do, more variety in the story missions, and a better ending (if still something of a cliffhanger). Also, using the pistol to assassinate my targets is great fun. Sadly, I had to bang my head against Ubi Soft's DRM on the PC version where I was unable to play the game I bought because the Ubi Soft servers were under maintenance. I hope there will be a different and better DRM solution when Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood comes out on the PC later this year.    

Whew! After 28 hours and 6 minutes spent with my right index finger firmly squeezing the accelerator trigger, I have reached the maximum level of twenty for the Racer and Cop careers of Need for Speed Hot Pursuit (PC). The last event in the Racer career, the 13+ min Seacrest Tour, was tricky to get the gold in due to the rubber banding AI. Picking the Koenigsegg CCXR Edition for its speed and nimbleness was the clutch for that gold. I'm going to give Hot Pursuit a rest for now. I grinded out those last levels and you get nothing for it that is substantial to the game. That kind of tired me out. I'll be sure to check the Autolog every once and a while.

 10 hours and 32 minutes later and I finish off the invading Tikis in Donkey Kong Country Returns. I lost so many life ballons in the process that I wish the game kept count so I would know how reckless I was. It's surprising how short the levels in Donkey Kong Country Returns are but that's only because so much time spent is spent dying and respawning back at the checkpoint. Also there is the fact that most of the levels have Donkey Kong moving quite quickly. So quickly that it can be hard to pick up on cues that help a player avoid obstacles. Sometimes it can feel that you have to grind some lives in order to successfully pass a level. That can be offputting for some players. Another offputting thing are the boss encounters at the end of each area. The fights are too drawn out and become uninteresting. All of the bosses follow distinct patterns where they reveal a weakpoint to hit a number of times to go to the next phase of patterns. Combat is a weak point of most platformers and I would've rather had tougher and flashier platforming levels than boss fights.


I will put Donkey Kong Country Returns aside for now. I don't know if I will every unlock everything in the game because some of the extra levels are pretty tricky and the collectables are hidden well.    

More Black Friday goodies have finally been delivered. I've been hoping for a deal on Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (PC) and it came! After putting three hours in to the game, I have to say that Criterion has made another beauty. Not just in the graphics either, which are fantastic, but in making a fine and fast racing game. It is a great feeling to call a roadblock, have the suspect crash in to it, and boost in to deliver the finishing blow. The steering is significantly heavier compared to Burnout Paradise so it takes more forethought in attacking a turn. I tried some of the multiplayer and it was great fun once I got a session populated. It doesn't seem there are many people online for the PC version at the moment. Also, I don't have any friends able to take advantage of Autolog. I was hoping that there would be some global, national, and such rankings to compare myself to.

EA ID for this game is Eribuster. I'm eager to play more of the game, but first there's GSL Starcraft 2 Open Season 3.

 34 hours and 58 minutes later and I finally finish one play through of Mass Effect (1). I maxed out the level for my female soldier and just gunned down the last boss in a hail of bullets. I like the game, but managing the inventory is such a pain. On to Mass Effect 2!