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danielkempster

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Half-Life Expansions: The Breakdown

By danielkempster 5 Comments

When I sat down and had a good long think about what I wanted to achieve from a gamer's standpoint in 2010, one of the first things that came to mind was "I need to play more PC games". Ever since I signed up to Steam shortly after the launch of Giant Bomb, I've been meaning to treat my humble PC with a little more respect as a games machine. My little laptop may not be the most powerful machine around, but it's got enough oomph for what I intend to use it for - namely, catching up with some retro titles that I missed back in the day. My first attempt to stick to my New Year's resolution has been quite a successful one, with January seeing me play through both official expansion packs for the original Half-Life - Opposing Force and Blue Shift. 
 
I played the first Half-Life back in August 2008 and absolutely loved it. In fact, it inspired me to write my first full Giant Bomb blog entry. However, there's one major difference between my experience with the original back then and my more recent experiences with its parallel sequels - I played Half-Life on PS2, with my good friend the Dual Shock 2 for company. As a consequence, aside from some brief (and unsuccessful) dabbling with Team Fortress Classic towards the end of last year, I had zero experience of playing first-person shooters with a keyboard and mouse. So in one respect, I had a feel for what sort of thing to expect from these two expansions, but in another, I had no idea how successful I was going to be in getting to grips with the mechanics. Deciding that my desire to experience these two games outweighed my apprehension towards the control scheme, I took the plunge and played them both one after the other, on Normal difficulty, over the course of a fortnight. Now, with my opinions fully formulated, I'm ready to reveal my thoughts in blog form.

Half-Life: Opposing Force

 Adrian Shephard is in for the ride of his life...
 Adrian Shephard is in for the ride of his life...
Opposing Force was the first of the two expansions that I played, and is definitely the one that I had more fun with. It took me around twelve days of half-hour sittings to make my way from the start of the game to the end, and despite a few moments of control-based frustration early on, I enjoyed every single second. It felt a lot more action-oriented than the original Half-Life, with a heavier focus on combat and less emphasis on puzzle-solving. As a consequence it didn't feel as well-paced as its older brother, but I for one rather enjoyed its relentless nature. In fact, I think if I had to pick a single word to describe Opposing Force, it would be 'relentless'. After the first introductory hour or so, the game grabs you by the throat and hurls you through its challenges at an incredible pace, with no real opportunity for respite until the closing credits. 
 
As mentioned above, Opposing Force is more of a combat-focused game. Thankfully, the developers had the sense to change the arsenal of weaponry to reflect this. Existing weaponry is tweaked to be more in line with the more militaristic premise - the revolver becomes a desert eagle and the crossbow is replaced with a sniper rifle, for example. There are also a lot of additional weapons, and it's these that really make Opposing Force engaging from a combat perspective. There's a displacement gun, which can teleport protagonist Adrian Shephard to the border world Xen. There's a spore launcher, which is actually a live alien that has to be fed ammo. If that isn't hands-down-awesome enough, there's even a portable barnacle, which can be used to cross chasms and get to hard-to reach places in a similar fashion to Link's Hookshot in the Legend of Zelda games. All these extra options encouraged me to switch between weapons more and try the new stuff out, which in turn helped to keep the combat feeling exciting. 
 
It's Half-Life, Jim, but not as we know it... 
It's Half-Life, Jim, but not as we know it... 
It's not just the weapons, though. Opposing Force feels like a lot of effort was put into it as a whole. It's evident in the little things that confirm as much, like the redesigned HUD, and the addition of night-vision to replace the flashlight of the original. This care in design is just as evident in the gameplay, which boasts the same incredibly well-balanced combat, impressive enemy AI, and thoughtful (though sparingly used) puzzle design from the original Half-Life. The game also boasts two amazing boss battles, which are probably the most memorable encounters I've faced since playing through Resident Evil 4 just over a year ago. One in particular plays out more like a puzzle than a boss fight, requiring the player to activate the Gearbox and the Valve (heh, I see what they did there) in order to "flush" the nasty critter away. 
 
Ultimately, Opposing Force feels like an adrenaline-fuelled six-hour run through the best bits of Half-Life: a kind of "Half-Life: Greatest Hits", if you will. It retains enough of what made its predecessor so memorable to feel familiar, but at the same time it does enough new stuff to carve out an identity of its own. It's got some issues with pacing, but it's so much fun that it's easy to overlook. It's easily the better of the two Half-Life expansion packs. Speaking of which...

Half-Life: Blue Shift

 Compared to its brethren, Blue Shift feels like just another day at the office
 Compared to its brethren, Blue Shift feels like just another day at the office
I'll start by saying that I probably would have liked Blue Shift a lot more if I hadn't started playing it as soon as I finished Opposing Force. As a result, I found myself constantly comparing the two, and consistently siding with Opposing Force. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it, because I did. It just didn't seem to live up the precedent that Opposing Force set. First up, there's the length - Blue Shift clocked in at around four hours, compared to Opposing Force's six. Taking me only two days to work my way through and never really reaching a point where I struggled, it also didn't feel as challenging as Gearbox's first effort. Maybe this had something to do with me getting used to the mouse-and-keyboard controls, I don't know. Whatever the reason for it, Blue Shift didn't occupy me for anywhere near as long as Opposing Force did.
 
It also felt a lot more underwhelming from a design perspective. After seeing the effort that went into making Opposing Force something more than just a Half-Life add-on, Blue Shift feels almost half-arsed in its execution. Rather than offering any new content it elects to recycle the assets from the original game, reverting back to its HUD and offering a limited amount of its weaponry. No new guns, no new enemies, no new anything, really. Of course, all the existing stuff is taken from one of the greatest first-person shooters ever made, so Blue Shift was always going to be solid, but it's a real shame that it's not more than that. The example that best highlights the laziness of Blue Shift's execution can be witnessed in its Training Level. At the end of the tutorial, protagonist Barney Calhoun is taught how to use a railcar. The game itself then proceeds to never feature a railcar. 
 
A lot of the time, Blue Shift feels really uninspired 
A lot of the time, Blue Shift feels really uninspired 
Comparatively, the only aspect of Blue Shift that comes out on top over Opposing Force is its puzzles. With less emphasis on combat, Blue Shift is balanced more in accordance with Half-Life proper. This means less shooting and more thinking, and thankfully it features some pretty inspired puzzle design. The whole segment involving charging a power cell in particular makes great use of both environmental- and physics-based puzzles, flipping switches and turning valves in order to progress to the eventual goal. It's just a shame that this much care and attention wasn't put into other aspects of the game's design. As it stands, I can't help but feel that Blue Shift is a pretty lazy add-on, especially in the shadow of its much more successful older brother.
 
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So there you have it, my opinion of the Half-Life expansion packs. All criticism aside, I thoroughly enjoyed playing through both, and I'm glad that I've started my first true foray into the world of PC gaming with such great games. At this point I'm undecided as to what will get played next. I'm a little too preoccupied with Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII on the PSP and Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts on the 360 to give it any serious thought right now, but I do have a lot of titles to choose from. There's Fallout and its sequel, which I bought around this time last year after having a blast with Fallout 3. There's Quake II, which is an entirely different brand of shooter altogether but it looks like a hell of a lot of fun. There's the mind-bending puzzler Braid sitting here unfinished. There's the two Max Payne games I picked up in the Steam Holiday Sale. There's even a few old Lucasarts adventure games like LOOM and The Dig around here somewhere. At least I know that when I do get the itch to return to PC gaming, my options are wide open. Thanks for reading, guys. I'll see you around.
 
 
Dan
 
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Currently playing - Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (PSP)
5 Comments

A Rare Moment

By danielkempster 12 Comments

I wasn't planning on blogging until the weekend. I had the intention of voicing my opinions of the Half-Life expansion packs, Opposing Force and Blue Shift. On this quiet Thursday, with University lectures cancelled and no pressure from essays or exams, I thought I'd just kick back and chill. Maybe read a little of Mrs Dalloway or The Faerie Queene in preparation for my Literature seminars next week. Maybe do a bit of creative writing, work on my novel to pass the time. Maybe even pick up the PSP and clear a few more outstanding missions in Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. Instead, I opted to fire up the Xbox 360 and play a little Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. 
 
I've been meaning to get around to playing Nuts & Bolts ever since Brad's glowing review encouraged me to pick up a copy from Amazon last Easter. Finishing off the Half-Life expansions, as well as feeling the need to return to my 360 after over a month of inactivity, prompted me to finally pick it up and start playing. Initially my opinion of the game was positive, but not especially high. It's funny, it looks absolutely gorgeous, it controls well, the gameplay is built on a very firm foundation, and the vehicle editor is accessible but also incredibly deep. I spent my first few hours with the game adjusting to the mechanics, mucking about in the Workshop and Test-O-Track, and completing some of the first few Jiggy challenges with some pretty rudimentary vehicular designs. I was enjoying Nuts & Bolts, but wasn't really seeing what Brad was talking about.
 

Then came "the moment"

    
 Is this really what the inside of my games consoles looks like?
 Is this really what the inside of my games consoles looks like?
The level was the first act of LogBox 720. The challenge was the one given by Klungo, to carry an antenna to a certain height within the level. Thinking I could approach it in the same way as the game's first few challenges, I opened up the vehicle editor with a hint of overconfidence and concocted a super-speedy version of the standard trolley, thinking its bigger engine would be enough to secure victory. I was wrong. After about five attempts which yielded nothing but notes, I decided to skip the challenge and head back to Showdown Town. While there, I hunted down a couple of crates and took them over to Mumbo. One of them contained a set of propellers. This got me thinking, and I instantly raced over to the Workshop to tinker with them. I stuck a couple of poles onto my trolley, added the propellers, and voila: I'd made a helicopter!

 It flies. It carries stuff. It was quite literally made for this challenge.
 It flies. It carries stuff. It was quite literally made for this challenge.
After a brief run in the Test-O-Track to make sure it could actually fly, I leapt back into LogBox 720 and found Klungo. I retook the challenge, arming myself with my newly-built Carry Copter. As soon as the klaxon sounded, I lifted the antenna onto my Carry Copter's tray, jumped into the driver's seat, and flew towards the ceiling of the level. I reached the allotted height in nineteen seconds, snagging not only the Jiggy but a nice T.T. Trophy to go along with it. My mind was blown. I'd experienced "the moment", the point where I actually GOT what Nuts & Bolts is all about. Instead of persisting with my first instincts, I took a step back, reassessed the situation, and made a vehicle better suited to my needs. Suddenly the creative juices have started flowing.  With just nine Jiggies to my name, I know I've still got a lot more to see, a lot more to think about, and a lot more to experiment with. I can't wait to see what else is lying in wait for me in the future challenges. I've even downloaded the L.O.G.'s Lost Challenges DLC pack, in the hope of squeezing just a little bit more life out of this awesome game.
 
I realise I'm a little late to the party with Nuts & Bolts, so I'm not going to wax lyrical about how awesome and innovative the game is, or about how more games should be providing this kind of experience. Other people have already made that point several times over. I just wanted to say that it's stuff like this, and the depth of the world in the Viva Pinata series, that has left me with a great sense of appreciation for Rare as a developer. That's probably why I've ordered myself copies of Kameo: Elements of Power and Perfect Dark Zero, as well as snaffling a copy of the original Viva Pinata. I'm looking forward to getting stuck into them all over the next year or so. They all look pretty darn good. Thanks very much for reading, guys. I'd also love to hear about your own Nuts & Bolts "moments", too, if you have any to share (but keep them reasonably spoiler-free, as I'm only a little way into the game). In the meantime, I'll see you around. 
 
 
Dan

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Currently playing - Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts (X360)
12 Comments

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars: Discovering Gaming Greatness

By danielkempster 10 Comments


Chinatown Wars is without a doubt the best portable GTA yet 
Chinatown Wars is without a doubt the best portable GTA yet 
Hey guys. Long time no blog. There's a simple explanation for this - I've been completely pre-occupied with Linguistics essays over the last couple of weeks. Thankfully they're all finished (for now, at least), and once again I have free time to devote to my passion for writing. So, what better way is there to simultaneously get back into writing and reacquaint myself with this great community than to put something out into the blogosphere? There are a couple of first-person shooters that I'm itching to share my opinions of, but first up is a Discovering Gaming Greatness blog that's been in the pipeline for two weeks now. Two Saturdays ago I reached the end of the main story missions in Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for the PSP, making it my first completed game of 2010. I loved every single second of the fifteen hours I devoted to this game over the two-week period that I played it for. Having played through Grand Theft Auto Advance, Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories, I can honestly say that Chinatown Wars is the best rendition of the GTA franchise on a handheld to date. Why? Well, let's get on to that... 
 
I wasn't lying about the dragon! 
I wasn't lying about the dragon! 
One of my favourite things about Chinatown Wars was the sheer amount of variety on offer in its missions. One of the biggest complaints thrown at Grand Theft Auto IV was that towards the end of the storyline, the missions became indistinguishable from one another in their similarity, and to an extent I'd be inclined to agree. Chinatown Wars definitely doesn't have this problem. Over the course of Chinatown Wars' storyline, I retrieved sunken cargo from the sea with a salvage boat, assembled Molotov cocktails at a gas station and used them to ignite a storefront, and even escaped from a bank heist disguised as a ceremonial Chinese dragon. Admittedly, the variety did wane a bit towards the end, but the final few missions were so well-constructed that I didn't notice or care at the time. The variety in these crazy missions is further supported by some of the best use of quick time events I've encountered in recent memory. I haven't seen so much mission variety in a game of this nature since Vice City set the standard way back in 2002.
 
Imagine how awesome police chases like this would feel in a game like GTAIV 
Imagine how awesome police chases like this would feel in a game like GTAIV 
There were a few things in Chinatown Wars that impressed me so much, I wouldn't mind seeing them in future console iterations of the franchise. One of these was the drug dealing aspect, which acts as a brilliant companion to the main game. The best thing about the drug dealing is that it's as deep as you want it to be. My involvement with it was almost wholly governed by the tip-offs I received by email, but I never found myself struggling for money at any point. Another thing I'd really like to see in the next console GTA is the implementation of Chinatown Wars' wanted level system, which is reduced by forcing pursuing cop cars to crash. After attaining a five star wanted level and then losing it in an epic fifteen-minute police chase through the streets of Algonquin, I couldn't believe this didn't happen sooner. It's such an intuitive way of getting rid of those wanted stars, and doesn't feel as "gamey" as GTAIV's search radius or the GTAIII canon's police bribes. The thought of what could be done if Rockstar North implement this into the next console GTA is an exciting prospect to say the least.
 
I spent so much time doing nothing in this game 
I spent so much time doing nothing in this game 
A major compliment I feel like I have to give to Chinatown Wars, although it has no real relevance to the game's quality, is that it's completely changed the way I approach  Grand Theft Auto games. Whenever I've got my hands on a new GTA in the past, it's been something of a personal tradition to plough through the story missions as quickly as possible before taking some time out to check out what else the game has to offer. My time with Chinatown Wars was nothing like this. Maybe my time with Morrowind last year has had some kind of subconscious influence on me, but more often than not I found myself taking prolonged breaks from the storyline to simply wander the streets, Molotov cocktail in hand, looking for security cameras to destroy in the hope I might stumble upon something even more interesting (which, more often than not, I did). The Grand Theft Auto games have always done a great job of providing players with interesting and cohesive open worlds to explore, and packing those worlds with lots of rewards, but that side of the game has always been something of an auxiliary way of playing for me. In my playthrough of Chinatown Wars, these two sides of Grand Theft Auto finally came together into one seamless experience, and I had a hell of a lot more fun with it than I might have done as a result.
 
Grand Theft Auto: Advance did a pretty good job of transferring some of the gameplay conventions of the 3D GTA games back into the 2D plane, but was difficult to play with the GameBoy Advance's small screen and limited controls. Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories were both very competent GTA games, but felt watered-down compared to their console brethren. Chinatown Wars suffers from none of these issues. It succeeds for me where these other portable GTAs have struggled because it seeks to re-interpret its console counterparts rather than emulate them. Both the story missions and odd-jobs are short and varied in nature to fit in with the pick-up-and-play nature of handheld games. While it still features Safehouses, it's possible to save anywhere as long as you're not on a mission. It's got a lot of extra content, perfect for moments when you just want to pass the time without getting too involved in the game. Chinatown Wars was made FOR a handheld console, rather than being made TO FIT one, and it's a better game for it. It's not perfect, that's for sure - the story was pretty weak, and the awkward lock-on made combat more frustrating than it needed to be at times, but the overall package is a brilliant one. If you're a fan of the series and haven't already, you owe it to yourself to pick this up.
 
Coming up - my verdict on this 
Coming up - my verdict on this 
I guess that just about wraps up this blog. Shame, really, because I have a lot of other games-related stuff to say. I've played about twenty hours of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII on PSP and have a lot to say about the game, as well as the aforementioned pair of shooters I recently played through. I've also acted on an impulse and ordered three Rare games from Amazon. I'm still waiting for them to turn up, but based on what I've played of Rare's other titles, I have a feeling I'm going to enjoy Kameo: Elements of Power, Perfect Dark Zero and the original Viva Pinata when they do appear on my doorstep. Anyway, thanks very much for reading, guys. I'll see you around. 
 
 
Dan
 
P.S. For the first time in a GTA game, Molotov cocktails are actually useful. Rockstar Leeds deserve a medal for making that happen. 
 
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Currently playing - Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (PSP)
10 Comments

Stagnation

By danielkempster 9 Comments

"We only sold HOW MANY?!" 
All the time, critically acclaimed games are being released into the public domain and subsequently being overlooked by the majority of people who play video games. It's been that way for years - just look at titles like Okami, Second Sight, ICO and Psychonauts. One of the latest titles to join the ranks of Great Games That Sold Poorly is Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, released last year for the DS and PSP systems. Over the last couple of weeks, I've been pouring most of my free time into the PSP version of Chinatown Wars that I received for Christmas. I'd rather not focus too much on my experience with the game in this blog, as that's something I'd prefer to save for a more involved write-up when I've finished the game's main story missions. Suffice it to say that the game is a pretty great re-imagining of a series for the handheld market. It looks great, it plays like a dream, and features some of the most varied and enjoyable missions the series has offered since 2002's Vice City. 
 
Chinatown Wars is much better than sales figures would seem to indicate 
Chinatown Wars is much better than sales figures would seem to indicate 
Yet, in spite of all the praise heaped upon both versions of Chinatown Wars by the critics, it's sold pretty dismally to date. The DS version shifted a paltry 90,000 units in its first two weeks on sale in the States, and the PSP version failed to crack the UK Top 40 at launch. In the time since the DS version's release, its inability to sell has been pretty much universally attributed to three factors - its more mature content (something most DS owners probably weren't looking for), a lack of promotion on the part of Take Two Interactive, and rampant Internet piracy. Theoretically, the PSP version should not have been held back by any of these problems. Two Grand Theft Auto titles have already met with enormous success on Sony's handheld, with Liberty City Stories being the second-highest-selling PSP game of all time behind Monster Hunter Freedom Unite. Mature content is presumably not, therefore, a concern for most PSP owners. In terms of promotion, the PSP version of Chinatown Wars saw a lot more advertising than its DS counterpart, at least in the UK. Thirdly, while PSP piracy is a problem, it's nowhere near as widespread as that of DS piracy. Even with all this going for it, though, the PSP release of Chinatown Wars seems to have struggled just as much as its DS predecessor. Why? I think I have the answer. 
 
This link leads to IGN's video review of the PSP version of Chinatown Wars, hosted on YouTube. Site bias aside, it's a pretty good video review that does a decent job of pointing out that the game is a good one. But it's not the video that illustrates the problem - it's the comments written beneath it. A quick scan through the comments is enough to reveal that the general public consensus towards Chinatown Wars is, "OMG teh gaem haz 2D grafx, dis suXX0rZ!!!!!1!!1!!!11!1!!1one". People are writing off the game because of its top-down perspective, comparing its visual style to the other PSP Grand Theft Auto games and concluding that Chinatown Wars must be inferior. Informed opinions about the game, both good and bad, are lost beneath a deluge of superficial slander. Is this really the kind of community that my favourite entertainment medium has attracted? A community that will choose to shun a game for such trivial and ultimately irrelevant reasons? It certainly looks that way. 
 
Are we destined never to see police chases like this in a console GTA game? 
Are we destined never to see police chases like this in a console GTA game? 
This fact worries me immensely. Why? Because it is these people, the masses, that have the power in this equation. Rockstar Leeds have crafted a brilliant game, keeping the handheld nature of the platform in mind and building around it. They've taken risks, made some pretty major changes and brought some genuine innovation to the GTA formula to make this game really shine as a portable experience. I don't think I'm alone when I say that some of these changes could even benefit the franchise's console counterparts in future iterations. Unfortunately, we'll probably never know. The ignorant public have voted with their wallets, choosing not to buy the title because it doesn't look quite as sharp as other games in the series. As a consequence, in spite of its critical acclaim, Chinatown Wars will forever be considered a flop, not only by GTA standards but also by industry standards. We'll probably never see a sequel built on the same engine, and all the innovations made by the developers will most likely be forgotten in favour of recycled mechanics that are at least guaranteed to put food on their tables. All this because of a camera angle. 
 
Some might say that I'm exaggerating a little, and maybe I am. But I do genuinely think that this points to a serious problem for the future of the games development industry as a whole. We are part of a wider community that's apparently willing to sacrifice genuine advancements and innovations in gameplay in favour of recycled content with a glossier coat of paint. One only has to look at the fate met by the titles mentioned in the first paragraph of this blog to realise that. Right now I can honestly see an industry future defined by stagnation, devoid of new IPs and innovation, where all that matters is annual franchising, unless we as the gaming public choose to do something about it. If you take one thing away from this long-winded, inarticulate rant, let it be an urge to pick up a copy of Chinatown Wars on either platform. The way things are headed, it might be the last attempt at genuine innovation in a video game that you'll ever get to experience. Thanks for reading, guys. I'll see you around. 
 
 
Dan
 
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Currently playing - Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (PSP)
9 Comments

Bullet Point Blog

By danielkempster 5 Comments

Hey guys, Dan here with the first blog of 2010. I'm a little bit busy with other stuff right now, which is why there hasn't been much blogging activity on my part over the last week or so. Just so you're all aware that I'm not dead, I thought I'd write up a quick bullet point blog to fill you all in on what's been going down since I last blogged on Christmas Eve. So, here goes! 
 

  • Christmas Day was pretty awesome. I got Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for my PSP (more on that in a second), stand-up comedian Russell Howard's new DVD, both seasons of Flight of the Conchords on DVD, an assortment of toiletries, money (which I've put aside for Uni living), and £30 worth of GAME vouchers (which I'm saving in order to put them towards the multitude of great games coming out in 2010). The day was spent entirely with family, eating far too much lovely food, watching awful TV and playing board games.
  • Speaking of Christmas, sorry about the lack of a third part to the Christmas Mega-Blog. I intended to push it out Boxing Day, but ran into problems with structuring it and eventually just gave up.
  • I did nothing special for New Year's Eve. Didn't even drink (incidentally, I've been teetotal for exactly two months today). Just chilled out with family, saw it in quietly and went to bed fairly early. Say what you will, but I enjoyed it a lot.
  • I moved back to my flat in Essex last night. My parents sent me back with a metric ton of 'essentials'. Went shopping for frozen food and various other bits this morning. I bought a bag, which the sales assistant put into another bag before giving to me. Lunacy.
  • Before Christmas Day I'd been playing a bit of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, but since I got it I've been playing Chinatown Wars almost exclusively. To date I've clocked up eight and a half hours and I'm loving it so far. I can't put my finger on the reason why, but I've found myself wandering off the beaten track a hell of a lot more than I usually would my first time through a GTA game. As a consequence, I think I'm only about halfway through the main story missions. The drug-dealing is brilliant, especially insofar as it largely lets you get as involved with it or remain as distant from it as you'd like. I've simply been buying up cheap drugs whenever I get the tip-off, sitting on the stash, and then selling them on when I find out they're in demand, and doing so has kept me pretty financially comfortable. Expect a more detailed blog when I finish it, but for now, all you need know is that it's awesome, and I'm loving it.
  • Speaking of Crisis Core, I'm five and a half hours in and just finished the mission with Tseng in Banora. Still on the fence over the story, but it's early days yet. Gameplay sits very well with me, feels very Kingdom Hearts-ish which certainly isn't a bad thing. My sole gripe at the moment concerns the DMW. In a lot of ways I think it's great - the concept of luck dishing out buffs and limit breaks is a pretty nice idea and keeps things feeling suitably frantic. However, I don't like the DMW slots being in control of the levelling up process. I can't help but feel that it kind of kills some of the sense of progression that you usually get from EXP gain. On the whole though, pretty good so far. Just hoping it picks up as I move further into the story.
  • In terms of holiday purchases, I have blown a whopping £3.98 in the Steam Holiday Sale. I shelled out £1.74 for the LucasArts Adventure Pack (consisting of The Dig, LOOM, and two Indiana Jones point-n-clicks), and I parted with £2.24 for the Max Payne pack (Max Payne and Max Payne 2 in one shiny digital package). Everything seems to run well on my laptop, so I'll probably end up playing them back here at University. I have a feeling the Max Payne games will be right up my girlfriend's street, so we may even end up playing through those together.
  • While out in town, I got it into my head that I was going to impulse-buy Borderlands in the January sales. Turns out all the shops in town were sold out though. Talk about being saved from oneself.
  • I did, however, give in to another urge and bought my first CD of 2010 in the form of Codeine Velvet Club's debut album. I've just finished listening to the self-titled effort and I'm incredibly impressed. I can only describe the sound as a fusion of rock, jazz and big band. Unfortunately, I don't think it sold well here in the UK on its release last week, as it didn't make it into the Top 40 album chart. Here's hoping that things pick up for them sales-wise, because I'd really like to hear more of this band.
 
I think that's enough to give you a basic idea of what's been happening over the last week-and-a-bit. Once again, sorry for the lack of activity. I'll try to remedy it over the next few weeks. Thanks for reading, guys. I'll see you around. 
 
 
Dan 
 
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Currently playing - Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (PSP)
5 Comments

The Christmas Mega-Blog 2009! Part Two - 2009 In Review

By danielkempster 5 Comments

Welcome back, readers, to the second part of my Christmas mega-blog 2009! Just in case you missed the first part, here's a link to it. The second (and most likely the longest) part of this Christmas mega-blog is going to focus heavily on 2009 as a whole, and my experiences within the year. In essence, it's the sequel to the2008 in review blog I wrote back in February. While it'll largely be focusing on games, there'll probably be a little bit of other stuff in here, most likely music-related as well as some more personal stuff. As with last year's retrospective analysis, you won't find any Game Of The Year talk here - that stuff doesn't interest me. Besides, as you'll soon see, I'm not really in a position to pass judgement on 2009 as a year for the gaming industry (the only 2009 release I purchased this year besides DLC was The Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition). That's why I'll be going down the personal route with this blog, looking at the games that I've played, the music I've listened to, and the events that have occurred this year, and how they've all come together to make 2009 such an awesome year for me. I recommend you find a comfortable chair, stock up on snacks and put the cat out, because this is likely to be a pretty long read.   
 

dankempster's Review of 2009!

  

2009 In Games

When it came to writing my review of 2008, I came to realise that I'd forgotten quite a bit about the games I'd played. In some cases, I'd even completely forgotten which games I'd played! To avoid the same thing happening when it came to writing my review of 2009, I've been keeping a list over the course of the year chronicling every game I've finished. Now, with the year's end only seven days away and no end-game scenarios on the horizon, I've closed the list and analysed its contents. This year, I've finished twenty-five games. Nineteen of those were games I'd never reached the end of before. In order to prevent this blog from getting too long right off the bat, I've whittled the list down to my ten most favourite gaming experiences of the year, each accompanied by a short paragraph expressing my views on the game in question. This list is in no particular order, and I'm not putting any game above any other. If you're interested in perusing the full list of all twenty-five titles, to see the other games that defined my 2009, it can be found here.
   
1. Bully

Bully, or Canis Canem Edit as it's better known here in the UK, saved me from a gaming drought shortly after the death of my first Xbox 360 way back in February.I was looking for something to help me pass the time in the absence of my 360, while I was waiting to leap back into Fallout 3. What I got was probably the best story-driven sandbox game on the PlayStation 2. Bully had everything - great characters, a tight, funny script, and the gameplay to back it all up. The sheer level of focus that went into the game's design blew my mind, and provided me with hours of fun simply experimenting with the gameworld. If you're looking for a full account of my opinion of the game, be sure to check out this blog.
2. Dead Space

I picked up Dead Space over my easter break, and played through it over the course of about a fortnight in April. With its great combat focused on strategic dismemberment and peerless audio design, Dead Space is without a doubt the most polished game I played this year and a testament to the way video games should be developed. One of the things that really made Dead Space awesome for me, though, is the fact that I shared the experience with my girlfriend. A big fan of horror movies, she loved every scary second, and so did I. For a more detailed round-up of my thoughts on Dead Space, you can turn to this blog.
3. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

I'm a long-time fan of the Metal Gear franchise, but I don't own a PlayStation 3. Thankfully, one of my flatmates from last year agreed to a console swap, letting me play Metal Gear Solid 4 for the first time. I loved the updated gameplay mechanics, all of which seemed to just feel right. While it allowed the player to take a run-and-gun approach if desired, the new control scheme didn't hinder my stealthy playthrough at all. The game also looked and sounded amazing, and really showed off the capabilities of the PS3. More than anything, though, it was the plot that left me feeling most satisfied at the game's close. If you want to know more about my experience with Snake's final outing, you might like to read this blog.
4. BioShock

A friend of mine bought me BioShock as a birthday present, and I got around to playing it in May. After initially being underwhelmed, I persevered and found the game really picked up after the first hour or so. The storyline was riveting, and kept me on the edge of my seat right up to the game's final boss (probably its weakest point, in my eyes). I wasn't too struck on the gunplay, but the plasmids ensured that the combat remained thoroughly entertaining. I was also blown away by the graphics, particularly the water effects. While I didn't devote any specific blog to covering BioShock, I did write about it briefly as part of this blog.
5. Final Fantasy V

After going almost a year without picking up a JRPG, it was recommended that I try Final Fantasy V. All my previous attempts to get into the game had failed on account of the game's rather awful opening act, but I decided to give it another try anyway. I'm glad I did, because Final Fantasy V offered up some of the series' best characters, funniest moments, and most compelling gameplay mechanics. The Job System in particular is well worth praising, offering up a myriad of possibilities for customisation that I spent hours tinkering with. For a full write-up of my thoughts on Final Fantasy V, check out this blog.
6. Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is the game that made me fall in love with video games. I wasted countless hours playing it in my youth, but never actually made it past the game's difficult final boss battle. One afternoon, inspired by the efforts of a fellow Giant Bomber, I picked up the 360 port of the game and vowed to do what I'd never managed to do as a kid - finish Sonic the Hedgehog 2. It took a few hours, several continues and a can of Relentless, but eventually Robotnik caved and I finally got to see the set of credits that I never thought I would. What's even more amazing is how well the game holds up, even after all these years. While Sonic 2 didn't warrant its own blog, I did write about it briefly at the bottom of this blog.
7. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

If 2008 was the year that I discovered Valve, then 2009 could perhaps best be described as the year I discovered Bethesda. As well as pouring significant amounts of time into Oblivion and Fallout 3, I also devoted an unhealthy chunk of my time (probably around 120 hours, all told) to Morrowind over my summer holiday. I loved every second of the game, particularly the freedom it offered and the way it did so in such an unpatronising manner. It was difficult, it was immersive, and it was a lot of fun. I still have the two expansions to play through, and will probably visit those at some point in 2010. For a more thorough look at Morrowind, be sure to check out this blog. 
8. Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus

In another instance of returning to games from my childhood, 2009 saw me pick up the first two Oddworld games for the first time in several years. I played through both over the space of about a week and fell in love with them all over again. The games are undeniably charming, although it's a lot harder to actually put your finger on the reason for that. Maybe it's the wicked sense of humour, maybe it's the extremely well-designed puzzles, or maybe it's just the feel of Oddworld as you traipse through its distinctive landscapes. Whatever it was, I had a blast with both games, but I picked Exoddus for this list because it felt like the more polished of the two. More info on my time in Oddworld can be found in this blog.
9. Fallout 3

I had two very different experiences with Fallout 3 this year. The first, back at the start of the year, was one of complete awe and wonder. The second, occurring after a prolonged stint with Morrowind, left me much more aware of what I was doing, but also left me feeling a little more critical of the game in general. One thing didn't change over that time period, though - my belief that it was a great game. I also picked up all the DLC packs for my second playthrough, and found that they all really added to the experience. For a complete breakdown of my opinion of Fallout 3 and all the DLC packs, you can head over to this blog.
10. Lost Odyssey

One of the last games that I reached the end of in 2009 was Mistwalker's Lost Odyssey. I fell in love with it almost instantly, heaping praise on the game's amazing aesthetics and addictive combat mechanics. The game felt an awful lot like Final Fantasy X, unsurprising considering it's the brainchild of Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, but it never felt like that was a bad thing. The game's protagonist, Kaim, was also a welcome addition, serving as a really interesting take on the whole 'amnesiac protagonist' concept that's been done to death by JRPGs over the years. If you'd like to know more about my time with Lost Odyssey, be sure to check out this blog. 

2009 In Music

2009 was a pretty slow year for music for me, although the waves of complete bilge were actually punctuated by some pretty great releases. Among my favourite albums this year were Kasabian's West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum , The Enemy's Music For The People , Them Crooked Vultures' Them Crooked Vultures , and Green Day's 21st Century Breakdown . I'm also looking forward to one more album this year, namely Codeine Velvet Club's Codeine Velvet Club , which comes out on Monday and looks set to be brilliant. However, when it comes to picking my favourite album of the last twelve months, I don't need to hesitate in making my decision - it couldn't be anything other than The Black Crowes' Before The Frost.../...Until The Freeze . I bought the album back in early October and fell in love with it on the first listen. Since then it's been pretty much all I've listened to, and has become not only my favourite musical release of 2009, but also one of my favourite albums of all time. Chris Robinson delivers one amazing vocal performance after the next, and is backed up by some truly inspired blues-based rock music. It's an incredibly mature sound, carrying the weight of an obviously much wiser group than the band that produced Amorica and Three Snakes and One Charm . Attached below is my favourite track on the album, the rip-roaring I Ain't Hiding . 
  
   
 

2009 In Events

Not world events, but rather personal events. It's interesting to look back at how much has happened over the last twelve months, it really puts things into perspective and has made me realise how much I've grown as a person. Sorry if this part seems self-indulgent at all, but I wanted to include it. There might even be an off-chance that it'll interest some of you. If you happen to be crazy stalker-people.
 
  • After meeting my girlfriend at University, we became a couple on January 13th. We've been together for over eleven months now, and I've loved every single second of the time I've spent with her.
  • My University accommodation was burgled in the early hours of February 22nd. The thief/thieves stole my (broken) Xbox 360, my DS (along with a copy of Chrono Trigger) and my 30GB MP3 player. It took the police four months to get back to me about the case, telling me that nothing could be done.
  • On February 28th I turned nineteen. My family came to visit me for the day. It was awesome.
  • On March 17th, my family lost our beloved dog, Freckles, to a short battle with an aggressive malignant disease. She was eleven years old, and is still sorely missed by all of us.
  • On March 21st I saw Paul Weller perform live at the O2 Arena in London. That event brought the number of my favourite artists that I've seen live to two out of four.
  • In July, I got my exam results for my first year of University. I passed with 2:1s across the board, leaving me with a comfortable pass into the second year.
  • On August 1st my girlfriend and I moved into our new flat, where we'll hopefully be staying for the next two years.
  • In late August, my family got a new puppy - a border collie/Alaskan malamute cross named Mya.
  • On September 17th my girlfriend turned 21. We stayed with her family for two weeks and organised a huge barbeque to celebrate.
  • On December 18th I returned to my family home for the first time in four and a half months.
 
I think that just about covers it. Sorry for the insane length of this blog post. I don't have the patience to go back and proofread it, so I hope it's readable. You can expect the third and final part of the Christmas mega-blog to materialise sometime on Boxing Day. In the meantime, a Merry Christmas to all of you who take the time to read this, as well as to all of you that don't. Thanks very much for reading, guys. I'll see you around.   
 
 
Dan 
 
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Currently playing - Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (PSP) 
5 Comments

The Christmas Mega-Blog 2009! Part One - Dan's Festive Plans

By danielkempster 7 Comments


 I am dankempster! I am feeling festive!
 I am dankempster! I am feeling festive!
Hey guys! It's Christmas Eve, and that can mean only one thing - it's time for the return of Dan's Christmas Mega-Blog! Those of you who've been around Giant Bomb long enough to remember this time last year might recall me pushing an epic three-part mega-blog into the blogosphere over the Christmas period. Well, I intend to do exactly the same thing this year. If that sounds like way too daunting a read, then fear not, because I've already thought of that, and will be putting this blog out in three separate manageable-sized instalments. That way it should avoid any major signs of Wall-Of-Text Syndrome. To drag up last year's analogy, think of this mega-blog as being a bit like a tasty Christmas dinner. The first blog, a quick update on what's happening with me over the Christmas period, serves as the prawn cocktail starter. The metaphorical turkey dinner comes in the form of a mammoth recap of my own personal experiences of 2009, gaming and otherwise, complete with all the trimmings. Finally, a wind-down blog in the form of a look back on my gaming life will take the place of the Christmas pudding with custard. If the prospect has your mouth watering, then I'll bring this preamble to a close and allow you to get stuck into the first course. Hope you enjoy this year's Christmas Mega-Blog! 
 

Dan's Festive Plans

Time to whack out the stock Christmas image! 
Time to whack out the stock Christmas image! 
Well folks, Christmas is once again upon us. I hope you've put up all your decorations, picked up a choice turkey from the supermarket and wrapped up all the presents. I got all of that stuff well out of the way quite some time ago. Anybody who read last year's mega-blog will know that I don't really go in for the commercial side of Christmas, nor for the religious side. For me, Christmas is about spending time with loved ones. As a University student, I don't get to see my family and friends much (before last week, the last time I saw them was when I moved into my new flat way back in August), so Christmas is a very special time for me for precisely that reason. That being said, though, I am still looking forward to that turkey dinner.
 
 I challenge you to find a more adorable dog than Mya
 I challenge you to find a more adorable dog than Mya
I get the feeling it's going to be a pretty mixed Christmas this year. On the one hand, I'm spending a lot of time with family over this holiday season. I returned home last Friday and it's great to be back. It's made me realise just how much I miss the company of my parents and my sisters, and I've finally had a chance to meet the incredible new addition to the family - Mya, the border collie/Alaskan malamute cross puppy. Tomorrow, Christmas Day, we're having my grandad on my dad's side over for the whole day, and my mum's parents are joining us for dinner in the evening. I anticipate that lots of food and alcohol will be consumed, lots of board games will be played, and lots of priceless family moments that'll be remembered for years so come will unfold. That'll be the perfect Christmas for me. On Boxing Day, we're having a friend of the family over for a light evening meal (which I believe is Mum-speak for "getting rid of all the leftover turkey"). Finally, on New Year's Day, my dad's side of the family will be gathering at my grandad's house for the traditional Kempster New Year's Day family dinner. I'm looking forward to all of these events, and am going to treasure what comparatively little time I have with my family before trudging back to Essex and putting my nose back to the grindstone for a new term. 
 
I got the Lonesome Anti-Christmas Blues... 
I got the Lonesome Anti-Christmas Blues... 
But at the same time, I feel like this Christmas is going to be a pretty lonely one. Even though I'm back at home, and in the company of people that I haven't seen for over four months, I still feel like something substantial is missing from the picture. I guess that's because I won't be seeing my girlfriend until a few days into the new year. We've been living together for over four months now, and to suddenly go from seeing her every day to not seeing her at all is a pretty jarring experience. Even now, almost a week after moving back home, I'm finding it hard to settle without her around - sleepless nights, lack of motivation, the works. It's incredible how seeing somebody every day can lull you into a state where you start to take their company for granted. It's also very weird to feel, for the first time in my life, like I don't have a fixed home anymore, because whether I'm here in Hertfordshire or back at the flat in Essex, I still see very little of at least  some of the people who matter to me most. Thankfully we're still talking loads on the phone, so it's not like we're completely cut off from one another. Also, to compensate for our not being together on Christmas day, we had an Unofficial Christmas Day in Essex last Thursday. We exchanged gifts, cooked an amazing turkey dinner together, and watched comedy programmes on TV until we couldn't keep our eyes open any longer. It was a great Unofficial Christmas. Hopefully in a couple of years, when we're out of Uni and in a bigger flat, we'll both be able to invite our families over to our place for Christmas lunch. Now that would be a complete Christmas. 
 
I can't wait to get my hands on this 
I can't wait to get my hands on this 
In terms of gifts, I haven't asked for much this year. My parents have promised to pay for my passport renewal as a Christmas present, and have also bought me Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars on PSP, which I'm really looking forward to playing. One of my sisters has bought me comedian Russell Howard's new DVD, Dingledodies. I'm really excited about watching that, because his first DVD was amazing. My girlfriend bought me a pen (the single greatest gift a writer can receive, in my opinion) and a really nice watch. Other than that, I suspect that I'll receive mostly cash and vouchers, which I'll be putting towards picking up Codeine Velvet Club's debut album, and probably saving to go towards some of the big releases I'm looking forward to playing in 2010. 
 
All in all, this Christmas is shaping up to be an excellent one. I hope you all have a great day tomorrow, too. I'd love to know what people are asking for/expecting to receive, so feel free to comment. In the meantime, I hope you've enjoyed reading this. I'll see you in a few hours with the second instalment - a personal review of 2009. Thanks for reading guys, I'll see you around. 
 
 
Dan
 
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Currently playing - Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (PSP)
7 Comments

The Mission's Over!

By danielkempster 5 Comments

 More of the wheat, less of the chaff
 More of the wheat, less of the chaff
I'm not normally known for impulse blogging, but I'm going to break that tradition for today. I've just finished Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow and now I feel like briefly sharing my thoughts on the game with all of you. 
 
I bought the first three games in the Splinter Cell franchise incredibly cheaply for my PS2 some time ago, with the view to playing through them in the near future. I got around to playing the first game last year (around the time this most Giantest of Bombs blew up), and found it frustrating and rewarding in more or less equal measures. The game wasn't as open-ended as it initially seemed, and progression was largely through extensive trial and error. I think part of the reason I left it so long between playing the original Splinter Cell and Pandora Tomorrow was my fear that it would be more of the same frustrating experiences. Imagine my surprise, then, when I picked up Pandora Tomorrow last week and found it to be an improvement over its predecessor in almost every conceivable way.
 
One of the main problems I had with the original Splinter Cell was its rigidity. The game presented me with the illusion that I could get through any situation in a multitude of different ways, but often boiled down to "sticking to the script" because most of the cool gadgetry was only useful for getting myself noticed. Pandora Tomorrow feels like it's addressed this issue by being a little more flexible in its execution. The big one is the addition of the humble whistle to Sam Fisher's arsenal. The inclusion of something this small really did have a big impact on the game, because it meant I could choose to break the game's patterns, rather than having to adapt to them. I also heaped criticism on the original game's unforgiving nature, but didn't feel the need to do so with Pandora Tomorrow, which seems a little less hard on mistake-makers. Checkpoints are (for the most part) generously handed out, and raised alarms seem a little easier to cope with this time around. Unfortunately this all seems to go out the window with the game's final mission, which cranks up the difficulty exponentially and just seems to expect you to deal with it. 
 
Sticking to the shadows is as important as ever
Sticking to the shadows is as important as ever
Aside from these two points, Pandora Tomorrow is pretty much what I was expecting - more Splinter Cell. It still looks great (for a PS2 port of a 2004 Xbox game), it still uses light and darkness really effectively as a gameplay mechanic, the action is still incredibly well-paced (again, for the most part), and the gadgets are still lots of fun to play around with. It's also still pretty linear, and still requires a lot of patience. I guess the biggest complaint I have is regarding the game's final mission, which felt like the complete antithesis to the rest of the game. With its poor pacing and soul-crushing spike in difficulty, it felt tacked-on, as if the developers thought the game wasn't going to be long enough or challenging enough and half-heartedly threw an extra level on the end to make up the time. For the most part though, Pandora Tomorrow was pretty much everything I could have asked for from a sequel to the original Splinter Cell - an equal level of challenge with more reward and less frustration. I'm certainly not going to leave it so long before I check out Chaos Theory, which I've heard is the best game in the series. 
 
Team Fortress Classic may be old, but it's still awesome 
Team Fortress Classic may be old, but it's still awesome 
Away from the rediscovery of my PlayStation 2, I moved back to my family's place on Friday, and I'll be staying here for Christmas and New Year before winging my way back to Essex for the Spring term of my second year. It's been nice to see all my family and friends again, and it was especially awesome to meet the new dog, Mya, who is quite possibly the most beautiful puppy I've ever set eyes on. I'm also working hard on two Linguistics essays which I have to finish before terms starts in January. In the land of games, I took the plunge and popped my Team Fortress Classic cherry yesterday. Even with ten years of age to account for, the game plays incredibly well and looks set to become my next gaming vice in the absence of a computer that can run Team Fortress 2. I'm not ashamed to admit that I suck at it, but hopefully that will change as I become accustomed to playing shooters with a mouse and keyboard. 
 
I think that about covers it for this blog. Now that I've wrapped up Pandora Tomorrow, I'm thinking of directing my attention in the direction of something a little more in-your-face. Right now Devil May Cry is looking like the most interesting option. I'm also really eager to start playing Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, so I'll probably dust off my PSP and give that a whirl some time soon. Anyway, thanks very much for reading, guys. I'll see you in a couple of days for the return of Dan's Christmas Mega-Blog. 
 
 
Dan 
 
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Currently playing - Team Fortress Classic (PC)
5 Comments

Lost Odyssey: Discovering Gaming Greatness

By danielkempster 18 Comments

Retroactive Game of the Year 2008? Let's find out... 
Retroactive Game of the Year 2008? Let's find out... 
It's been a long time since I last wrote a Discovering Gaming Greatness blog. A quick glance back through the archives seems to indicate that the last instalment was written way back in August, in relation to the first two Oddworld games. A lot of games has been played since then - I've worked my way through two Pokémon games (namely Yellow and Crystal), wasted a hell of a lot of time with Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise and Forza Motorsport 2, and obtained my first Giant Bomb S-Rank in my playthrough of Fallout 3. The latest name to add to this list of titles is Lost Odyssey, a fittingly epic JRPG from Hironobu Sakaguchi and the other folks at Mistwalker. As a long-time fan of Sakaguchi's other work, the purchase of Lost Odyssey seemed like a no-brainer when I first picked up my Xbox 360 back in May of last year. Despite picking it up in last June, though, the game went largely unplayed for just over a year. It wasn't until the end of August, when I hit a bit of a post-Morrowind gaming drought, that Lost Odyssey finally found its way out of its case and into my 360 proper. After three and a half months of Lost Odyssey, totalling fifty-nine hours of gameplay time and punctuated by a couple of fairly long breaks, my time with the game has come to an end, and I'm happy to say that it's without doubt one of the greatest games I've played through this year. Not only that, it's probably the best JRPG I've played since Final Fantasy X hit European soil way back in 2002. Want to know more? Then read on...
 
Every boss battle is unique and memorable 
Every boss battle is unique and memorable 
One of the things that really made Lost Odyssey for me was the combat. While it may not cover any new ground, its true success lies in its ability to refine the age-old premise of turn-based combat to a level of near-perfection. Lost Odyssey represents perhaps one of the most finely balanced battle engines I've ever seen in any RPG. At no point during my playthrough did I ever feel like anything arbitrary was going on with the battle engine. Even little things that most players might not care too much about, like the MP cost of different spells and skills, all felt really well-balanced to me. I was also impressed by the highly tactical nature of what's going on under Lost Odyssey's hood. While being able to switch rings and accessories on the fly might not sound like a big deal, it's probably the most next-gen thing about Lost Odyssey's battle system. Not to mention the Guard Condition parameter, a seemingly simple addition which really encouraged me to start thinking about how to distribute my attacks and maintain my defence. Lost Odyssey also really knows how to do boss battles. Every one took full advantage of the little pieces of the game's combat puzzle, making for some unforgettable stand-offs. All these little innovations came together to create a truly memorable combat experience for me.
 
The whole game feels perfectly balanced 
The whole game feels perfectly balanced 
All this excellent combat was backed up by a levelling system that took me completely by surprise. One of my favourite things about Lost Odyssey is the way the game handles experience gain. Rather than adopting a strictly numbers-based system, Lost Odyssey simplifies the process down to the most basic of levels. Lost Odyssey rewards you for taking on stronger foes, while weaker foes yield minimal experience gain. This system impressed me for two reasons. First, it makes it easy to get back on top of things if you're under-levelled at any point. Second, it discourages grinding and power-levelling tactics in order to power through the game. It also helps that this system is as well-balanced as the battle system. I stuck pretty rigidly to the game's innate 'level guide' and at no point did I ever really feel that the game was either ridiculously easy or frustratingly difficult. From a mechanical perspective, I don't think I've ever played a game as refined as Lost Odyssey.

When you see this, you know you're in for an interesting read 
When you see this, you know you're in for an interesting read 
For the most part, Lost Odyssey tells a pretty great story. I loved the global scale of things, and the turmoil that befalls Uhra, Gohtza and Numara is one of the games industry's more interesting 'world in chaos' plots of recent times. Less interesting were the character-driven parts of the story, which really weren't helped by the game's cast of characters. Jansen, Cooke and Mack in particular were more suffered than appreciated, I found. Thankfully, the game makes up for this with its amazing protagonist - Kaim Argonar. This is partly due to his evolution over the course of the game, but mainly owed to the beautifully written Thousand Years of Dreams stories that punctuate the game experience. Every one is interesting and appropriately emotional, and they serve as an incredible insight into the thousand-year-old mind of this troubled character. If anything ever drags me back to Lost Odyssey, it'll probably be the desire to experience more of these heart-rending dream sequences.

I'm not saying Lost Odyssey is perfect. It's got more than its fair share of issues, many of which detracted from the experience for me. The game has a major problem with loading times, for a start. While I'm not too bothered about loading times cropping up between different areas, they're a much bigger issue when they start interrupting cut-scenes. Another problem I had with the game was its unusually low encounter rate, which at times seems intent on offering up battles at ten-minute intervals. There's an unnecessary obligatory stealth sequence early on, indicating the folks at Mistwalker didn't get the memo that they went out of fashion in 2004. But, while these issues do mar the experience, they're not enough to stop Lost Odyssey from being one of the best games I've played this year. Between the expertly refined gameplay mechanics, the gorgeous visuals and the captivating story, Lost Odyssey feels like the game we might have had if Hironobu Sakaguchi had still been with Square Enix while they were working on Final Fantasy XII. I'm definitely not going to be leaving it so long before I pick up my next JRPG, that's for sure. Thanks for reading guys. I'll see you around.
 
 
Dan 
 
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Currently playing - Forza Motorsport 2 (X360)
18 Comments

Hack 'n' Slash 'n' Shoot 'n' Run

By danielkempster 6 Comments

First things first. I'd like to apologise for my recent absence from the Giant Bomb blogosphere. I've been a little preoccupied with writing an essay for my Early Modern Literature module (a rather interesting one, actually, concerning racism and sexism in Christopher Marlowe's The Jew of Malta). While I still have yet to finish said essay, I'm also up pretty early for a Sunday morning, so I figured I'd use this time to briefly update you on what I've been playing since I finished Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony, as well as to let you know what I've got planned blog-wise before this year comes to an end. 
 

Lost Odyssey

Lost Odyssey looks great and offers a solid combat system 
Lost Odyssey looks great and offers a solid combat system 
Ever since I wrapped up The Ballad of Gay Tony, I've been sinking pretty much all of my game time into this awesome JRPG. While I'm intending to save my thoughts on this for a slightly longer write-up upon completion, I feel obliged to say a bit about it now. I'm currently on Disc 4, having just beaten the first part of Grand Staff and seen off the Nefarious Saints. I'm absolutely loving it so far, to the point I'm willing to say it's one of the best games I've played this year. Lost Odyssey offers pretty much everything I could ever want from a JRPG - it tells a brilliant story, the gameplay is a solid mix of dungeon-based puzzle-solving and extremely well-balanced turn-based combat, and it looks absolutely incredible. It's also well and truly staved off my JRPG blues. That's not to say it's perfect - long load times and an unusually low encounter rate are among its issues, but they are (thankfully) minor. I don't want to say too much else, for fear of ruining the Discovering Gaming Greatness blog that I'm planning to write for this in the near future. For now, all you need to know is that Lost Odyssey is great. If you need a JRPG to fill the void in your 360 until Final Fantasy XIII comes out next year, you could do a lot worse than this game.
 

Team Fortress 2

I can see you... 
I can see you... 
A bit of an interesting story behind this one. Last weekend here in the UK Microsoft held something called the Winter Xtival. For the uninitiated, it was essentially an Xbox LIVE free weekend, with some cool multiplayer events thrown in for good measure. As somebody with only a Silver membership, I decided I'd make the most of the Winter Xtival and play some online multiplayer over the weekend. My first thought was to play a little of Grand Theft Auto IV's multiplayer, I ended up changing my mind in favour of popping my Team Fortress 2 cherry. While the 360 version of the game may not have much of a community, I had a blast playing it over the long weekend. I spent my first few matches under the guise of a Medic, and ended up experimenting with all the classes before I settled on the Sniper as my class of choice. Now I've caught the TF2 bug I wish I could pick up the PC version and keep on playing, but sadly my laptop doesn't have enough "ooomph" to run it. Hopefully while I'm at home over Christmas I'll be able to get it running on the family PC and maybe even engage in one or two holiday Bombing Runs.
 

A Most Difficult Decision

That's essentially all I've played since I last blogged, with the exception of a couple of games of Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved (which I still suck at, by the way). One thing I've noticed while looking over the list of games I've played this year, though, is that my beloved PS2, my favourite games machine of all time, has been largely neglected in 2009 in favour of my Xbox 360 over the last six months or so. I intend to put this right by picking up a PS2 game and playing through it before Big Ben chimes midnight on December 31st. My question to you, the Giant Bomb community, is which game should that be? I've managed to narrow it down to a personal three-way choice between Deus Ex, Primal, and Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, but if you'd rather head on over to my Pile of Shame and suggest something else, I'd be more than happy to consider it.
 

Blogs To Come...

Between now and Christmas there are a few things I intend to put out into the blogosphere. Here's a brief summary of what you can expect to see on this page in the coming weeks:
 
  • 2009: The Year In Review - As the name suggests, this will be a blog looking back on my own gaming experiences of 2009. Think of it as a kind of sequel to the 2008 review I wrote earlier this year. Expect this right at the end of December.
  • Why Red Dead Redemption Will Probably Be My Game Of The Year 2010 - Red Dead Redemption is the 2010 release I'm most excited for. This blog will shed a little light on the reasons why.
  • Return Of The Christmas Mega-Blog - Remember last year's three-part Christmas Mega-Blog? Well, I'm planning to write another one this year as my Christmas present to the Giant Bomb community.
  • Lost Odyssey: Discovering Gaming Greatness - As I mentioned earlier in this blog, I'm intending to finish Lost Odyssey before the year is out. As soon as I do, you can expect a lengthy write-up expressing my opinions on the way it plays, as well as what I liked and what I didn't.

I think that's enough to constitute a decent update. Until next time guys, take care. I'll see you around. 
 
 
Dan 
 
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Currently playing - Lost Odyssey (X360)
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