Such a happy community

The Sims 3

After losing interest in The Sims 2 around three quarters of the way through its lifecycle, I was worried that the appeal of the series had completely diminished for me. I decided to leave a few weeks before buying the recent third game, but today I finally got my hands on it and it's safe to say the addiction is coming back. It manages to be similar to predecessors while taking a step up at the same time. The joys of building up your sim's house, career and lifestyle are all still there, but have been improved in their own ways. For example, you can now angle your furnishings at 45 degrees rather than 90 and can have more than one object inside a square space. These sound minor for sure, but it all adds up. The main new feature is the seamless neighbourhood, which lets you travel to places such as the spa or gym without any loading. It definitely adds a new layer to the game, and takes away from some of the disconnection that the loading screens in the first two Sims caused. As I said, I've only played it for today, but so far the only problems I have with The Sims 3 is that some neighbourhood locations cannot be entered (leaving you to wait outside as your sim enjoys themself) and if you have a single sim in a household you have nothing to do while they are sleeping. I recommend finding your sim a partner, pronto! Also, although it's to be expected to fund EA's pocket, all of the expansions from The Sims 2 are nowhere to be seen. Rebuying running a business, pets and so on here I come!

Harry poses for the crowd

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

The Harry Potter games have been quite bad ever since the fourth. Although the last one, the fifth, got the open-world aspect right, the repetitive fetch-quest gameplay left little desire. The latest title, Half-Blood Prince, is a step in the right direction but it is still a long way away what a good Harry Potter game could be. It basically consists of three activities over and over - potion making, duelling and Quidditch. The potion making is the best part, and it sees you mixing, stirring and heating above a cauldron to get your mixture just right. Duelling consists of casting a spell to paralyse the enemy, then spamming an attack over and over until they are defeated. Finally, Quidditch is just flying through a bunch of hoops on-semi-rails, and as you can imagine both this and the duelling gets boring after a while. The game's story also makes no sense, and will be so disjointed for those who haven't read the book or seen the film that they wont know what's going on. Graphically the game is hit and miss, with Hogwarts stunningly recreated, while the character models being downright awful. Considering EA had a huge amount of time to polish up the game after the film got delayed, it's annoying, although not surprising, that they didn't. Speaking of the film, that is amazing. It is so cinematic, and although it has less action than the previous films, it is engrossing and a real pleasure to watch. I definitely recommend that everyone goes to see it. The game? You should probably pass on it unless your a real Potter fan like myself.

Thanks for reading!

Guybrush goes episodic

Tales of Monkey Island

I did not expect this. Alright, so I love Sam & Max, but it doesn't hold a place in my heart like Monkey Island does. I've long hoped for a new game in the series, but I'd pretty much given up hope. Escape from Monkey Island was released nearly nine years ago, and LucasArts didn't show any signs of a revival. I knew that Telltale Games were announcing a new franchise at E3, but ohhhh man... Monkey Island? Dude, YES! When I heard this, I literally went crazy. I was so excited and happy, and still am. This has blown every other E3 news out of the water. A five-part episodic series is being released on both PC and Wii Ware. My only concern is that the latter platform is going to limit things for the PC, but I really hope the game out well despite this. Some original voice cast are back (Dominic Armato), and Telltale promises not to use repeating locations from episode to episode -- or as they are known in this case, 'chapters' of an overarching story. And that's not all...

How'd he get his hair like that?

Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition

I think I'm going to faint with joy. Along with Telltale's new games, LucasArts have announced that they are completing revamping the first game, The Secret of Monkey Island, with new graphics, voice overs, interface and a hint system. Of course, this special edition's awesomeness relies on the one main new feature, the updated graphics, so it's no surprise that they are amazing. It's a completely unique style, and playing the first Monkey Island game in high definition is going to completely blow me away. For those who don't like it, you can hit a button at any moment in the game to switch back to the old, pixel graphics. The second huge feature is a fully voice acted script, and the cast from Curse of Monkey Island have returned to provide their voices. Honestly, nothing can get any better than these two announcements. LucasArts, I've redeemed my liking of you.

Yarrr! Thanks for reading, me hearties!

Dodging fat hippos. It's a living.

Punch-Out!!

I've never played any of the Punch-Out games. Nothing has attracted me to the games, and I have no desire to buy it from the Virtual Console. So why, prey tell, would the series' latest instalment for the Wii catch my eye? The first, perhaps almost obvious reason, is the graphics. They are very stylized, and I really like them. In the videos I have watched it all runs very smoothly, and is a visual feast. This wasn't enough to draw me to the game by itself though, because why would I, a point-and-click-adventurer, enjoy punching stereotypes with my controller? That's what I continue to ask myself as the game sits in my basket. The one hook that tiped me over the edge to a buy was the Quick Look here on Giant Bomb. I hadn't watched any gameplay videos, but I sat back and watched Jeff and Ryan play through the first slice of the game, and I was impressed. But retail is asking for £30. I can't justify that for a game that isn't really at the top of my list. And so, until a reduction, it is emptied from my cart to be picked up again in the future.

"Hey, perv purple monkey here."

Dreamfall: The Longest Journey

I don't know if you've played Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, but after winning it in a competition I can say that I have. And I'm not sure if I'm better off for it or not. Although I'm no way near completing the game, I've put in a fair amount of hours and can safely say it is weird. It's more of an interactive story than a game, and so far I've been playing the story of one of the three main characters, Zoe. I would say that Zoe was an ordinary girl, except she has a weird purple monkey as both a toy and friend. Not only can this monkey deliver messages and news, he also has an incredibly perv voice. I mean seriously, it sounds as if he is trying to get her into bed. I haven't played much of the game recently, and I partly blame this down to lack of time. I also mostly blame it to me being a wimp and becoming freaked out at some silly things such as bumping into some haunted girl down a corridor or some mysterious twins attacking me -- in the game, that is. In summary? Stay away from the purple monkeys. Has anyone else played this game?

Thanks for reading!

A shocked Stobbart

Broken Sword

I recently felt one of my typical urges to purchase a classic adventure game from the past that I never got round to playing, and so I decided to pick up Broken Sword 1 and 2. Despite knowing little about the series, the screenshots appealed to me and I'd read nothing but good things about it. I've been playing it non-stop and was instantly pulled into the exciting adventures of George Stobbart and Nico Collard, an American tourist and a French lady respectively. The plot pulls you in with ease, and I found it hard to pull myself away from the game as I just wanted to find out what happened next. Although, I was a bit surprised when I found out you could die in the game... it went all Sierra-style on me! Nevertheless, this just made me think over my decisions more carefully, and stopped me answering cheekily when Khan held a gun to George. I have only played the first game so far, as I didn't want to move onto the second before I'd written by review. Which I now have, so please check it out and leave a comment if you have something to say! With that out of the way, I anticipate the thrills that the second game is sure to bring.

This is paradise

Burnout Paradise

After some delays due to the snow, I got my greasy mitts on Criterion Games' latest release of their racing game, Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box. Since I don't own a 360 or PS3 to play the game on, I was over the moon when they decided to package the game up with all the DLC and release it on the PC. I've spent a solid seven hours and more with the game so far, and I am loving every second of it. The ability to roam around the city to find billboards and gates to smash is one of genius, and it'll have me coming back to find every last secret there is to offer. The racing is fast-paced with some great roads to speed around, and it's so satisfying to smash a fellow racer off the road and take the lead. Jumping online with the game is also a seamless experience, as you never have to leave the game to do so. Simply hop into a freeburn and you'll be able to mess about with fellow gamers online, taking them out or completing the hundreds of multiplayer events there are on offer. I've yet to even touch on the bikes or party pack DLC content, but I'm sure when I do it'll be just as good as what I've experienced so far. A recommendation to all racing fans... if you don't already have it, that is!

Thanks for reading! Smell ya later!