More than a month since my last backlog blog. Didn't get to do most game since most of this month I spent in India. The trip was pure business and simply didn't have time for gaming. Worked most of time, but did get to sample a decent variation of Indian cuisines. Stayed in Mumbai which is a huge city with massive contrast between the poor and the rich. Had to pass a slum neighborhood every day on my way to work. Around the corner the huge shopping malls look exactly like the ones in the UK or other European countries I've been into. One thing I didn't know or expect was the smell. Warm weather doesn't make this better of course. You get used to it after a while, but no video or picture does justice before you experienced the smell. Especially in a town like Mumbai where the space is so limited. On vidjagames business, didn't get to buy any games either, well other than on Steam/GOG and various Indie games bought online. Did get to see how videogame market there is still though. In short, it is no different to the UK. They had all the latest games. Such as La Noire, Infamous 2 and Duke Nukem Forever, which were current in June. The prices are pretty decent as well. New games in stores go for £20-30 which is cheaper than in te UK. The older games were bit more what you can get these for on Play.com/Amazon. They didn't seem to have lot of used game market. They got the average DS/PSP/Wii/PSP/PC and Xbox 360 games of course. Interestingly they had still active market for PS2 consoles and games. You can still buy a new PS2 console there. Was toying with the idea of buying a new one, but had already enough luggage. Most of the stores selling the games (except for the games only stores) had all these mixes up. The recent Xbox 360/PS3 titles mixed with some old PS2 games and what not. Will be going back to southern Asia in few months time. A honeymoon (of some sort) in Mauritus.

Anyway, some words about my gaming last month as well....

Tyrian 2000

Loaded my PC with some GOG games before heading there. Wanted to started from the top, the first game I got from GOG. A freebie. Never played it back when it was released. For what it's worth it still a attractive SHMUP game with its RPG mechanism. The ship has health and armor, but the game is still pretty hard. Granted I don't normally play SHMUPS.

Final Fantasy 5

Started this (the GBA version), but didn't really get too far. Got only to the third or fourth boss. The one that uses fire attacks &stuff. Got my ass handed to even though I am bit over-leveled. Need to tune the jobs and abilities and try again, soon.

AC Brotherhood book

This actually my first real videogame book. Got this as Christmas present last year. Pretty decent, but the "gamey" parts shines through. Haven't still played the actual game but really looking forward to now. Even though I know the story now. Had some rupees to spend on the way back and bought the book based on the 2nd game. Didn't realize this before getting home and checking it out. Pointless since I've played the game(AC2) already. Local charity shop gets yet another gift from me. Ordered the Ass Bro game, but Play.com have screwed up the order. For first time in 10years or so! Need to give them another call.

On the weekend when I came back we had to move house. Got a extra bedroom now and better view and whatnot. Still waiting for internet to get sorted. Wife had to arrange it so it wasn't ready when we moved. Anyway been playing only these two so far...

Prototype

Was slightly dreading come back to this, but it wasn't so bad in the end. Not really a good game, but there were glimpses of brilliant. Controls and the visuals bit on the funky side. Game just looks very grey and red, not intentional I'd assume. Gameplay tends to get tedious with the endless amount of enemies and chaotic levels. Luckily this is not a long game. So, I finished the story now. Did hardly any side-missions and ended up skipping most of the cut-scenes.

Runespell: Overture

I mostly play old games as you may have noticed. Occasionally I do play new games as well (Rockstar/Rockstead). This is completely different though. A beta of an yet to be released indie game. Signed to their newsletter way back and got an invitation to this closed beta. Anyway, Runespell: Overture is a RPG themed poker game. Very similar to Puzzle Quest except that instead of match-3 there is card game mechanism underneath. Game has heavy fantasy theme with stylish art style an epic fantasy soundtrack. The beta seemed tad easy and short, more like an demo not beta. At least the runs smoothly, even on my netbook. So far really enjoyed this and will be getting this on day one most likely. Will be available on Steam 20.07 for less than a tenner £$€. Story takes about 10-12h according to the devs. What makes this interesting that you get to think for different tactics and if you are good(or decent) poker player it will help. At least there is challenge here. Yes Telltale Poker Night, I am looking at you.

Random Youtube video as usual: A typical Maiden ballad from their last album. Silly lyrics and all over very tame song. Just wanted to post this since this is my only outlet to internets and all. Maiden totally ripped chorus of Highwayman here. Not sure if that is good thing that I know (can hear) this.