Hey guys. It's time for part four of my Top 30 Games list, covering numbers 15 through 11.
15. Resident Evil 4
Resident Evil 4 is filled with incredible boss battlesPlayStation 2 (2005)
I was very apprehensive going into Resident Evil 4. I didn't enjoy any of the original games, despite having given them all a chance, and was worrried that the fourth iteration was going to be exactly the same. Still, I decided to pick it up on the recommendations of others and give it a chance. Boy, was I wrong. Resident Evil 4 was slow to get started but within a few hours it had me completely hooked. While the story and characters were largely forgettable, maybe because I never played through any of the other RE games, it was the quality of the combat and the game's atmosphere that sucked me in and refused to let me go. Every gun in the game felt powerful, and the Ganados seemed practically unstoppable as they resisted the firepower pumped into them, making for some real heart-in-throat moments in combat. The inventory management and weapon customisation aspects were also well-executed, adding extra depth to what was already a very satisfying shooter. Although the story is forgettable, the game looks amazing with some truly scary monsters gracing the screen. More than anything, though, it was the boss battles in Resident Evil 4 that made it so memorable for me. Every one looks more hideous than the last and requires careful thought and strategy to overcome, making for some of the most tactical and intense boss battles of any video game. This unexpected experience caught me completely off-guard, which is probably why I remember it so fondly.
14. Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts is enchanting, beautiful, and a lot of funPlayStation 2 (2002)
Every now and again, a game will come along that will surprise you. Resident Evil 4 surprised me because it was better than I thought it was going to be. Kingdom Hearts, on the other hand, surprised me simply because it actually worked. Being a Disney fan in my youth and a Square fan in my adolescence, I was worried that this amalgamaton of the two worlds would have catastrophic results. Again, I was very wrong. Kingdom Hearts works because it remains faithful to both sides of its inspiration, while at the same time succeeding in delivering something original. The characters and worlds of the Disney universe have never been better realised in 3D, and both art styles seems to merge effortlessly into one another. Gameplay-wise, the game offers an interesting take on the action RPG with some excellent combat (particularly the boss battles) and an endearing story. I picked the original over Kingdom Hearts II because, while the sequel is a better game, it loses a lot of the focus on remaining faithful to the Disney source material and in doing so ends up feeling more like a Final Fantasy game with Disney cameos, rather than a legitimate mixture of the two. It also lacks a lot of the charm that made the original game so likeable. I mean, who could ever forget the time spent with Winnie the Pooh in the Hundred Acre Wood? With charm like that, I can even overlook the dreadful Gummi ship stuff. I've played through Kingdom Hearts countless times, and every time I find more new things to like about it. Anybody who spent their childhood watching Disney movies owes it to themselves to check this out. Whether they like JRPGs or not, they're bound to get something out of this.
13. Sonic the Hedgehog 2
This is the game that made me love video gamesMega Drive (1992)
Every gamer has a starting point. That firsf game that made them fall in love with the interactive medium we're all so crazy about. For many, it's Mario. For others, maybe Pong, or Pac-Man. For me, it was this: Sonic the Hedgehog 2. I remember owning the game and playing the hell out of it almost every day, but what I remember even more vividly is the time I spent playing it at my cousin's house. This was back before we owned a Mega Drive, when we were still playing 8-bit games on the Master System, and Sonic 2 was such a leap forward from this that I just couldn't get enough of it. I used to make excuses to my parents in order to stay at my cousin's house and play more of it. It was the first time I ever became truly obsessed with a game, something that hasn't happened very often since (I won't specify which games, as most of them will be appearing later in this list). Everything about this game was perfect in my eyes. It looked incredible, much better than the Master System games I was used to playing, and conveyed an incredible sense of speed. The gameplay was simple but addictive, complemented by some excellent level design, truly memorable themed zones and well-crafted boss battles. I also loved Tails (yeah, I'm in that camp on this issue. Tails rocks!). Like Streets of Rage, I never actually completed Sonic 2. I remember reaching what I imagined to be the final boss several times, always armed with a bevy of lives and continues, only to fall foul of it yet again. What made it even worse was the lack of a save feature or password system, meaning every time I played, I had to start from scratch. That may well be one of the reasons why I remember it so well, though. I'll have to go back to it and see if I can finish it all these years later.
12. Canis Canem Edit
Canis Canem Edit does so much right in such a small spacePlayStation 2 (2006)
Up until a couple of months ago, I would never have considered Canis Canem Edit for inclusion on a list like this. It's always played second fiddle to Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto games, notably Vice City and San Andreas. I'm not going to lie. I too shunned it for a long period of time, refusing to give it the chance it deserved. That changed a couple of months ago, when I finally decided to play through the game. I was rewarded with a game that not only turned out to be a hell of a lot of fun, but also ended up being better than San Andreas (more on that here, if you're interested). The characters and story were of a higher standard than any other action game by Rockstar at the time of its release. The GTA-style gameplay translated almost effortlessly into the school setting, offering some memorable missions and some interesting ways of completing those missions, too. Most of all, the game was tight, focused and full of little details, something severely lacking in the wide scope of San Andreas. Exploring in Canis Canem Edit was rewarding because you never knew what you were going to discover, and the countless ways of interacting with the other inhabitants of Bullworth made every encounter an interesting and hilarious one. No other open-world action game on PS2 has quite as much attitude and personality as Canis Canem Edit. It left me breathless after the ride, longing for more. Here's hoping Rockstar will continue experimenting with new settings and concepts for its action games. If they all turn out to be as good as this, then we're all in for a real treat.
To be honest, I could just as easily have put The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion in this spot. Both games offer a huge open world to explore, free-from questing that rewards exploration and encourages different play styles, and an incredible amount of attention to detail. I sided with Fallout 3 for two reasons. The first of these is, more obviously, because I've spent more time with it overall. The second is because I enjoyed the post-apocalytpic setting a little more than the fantasy one of Oblivion. Fallout 3 was my introduction to the genre of open-world western RPGs, and it did an excellent job of getting me hooked. The quests were well-constructed and, for the most part, really interesting. While a lot of people didn't take to it, I really liked the combat and wasn't too put off by VATS. Similarly, I didn't mind the game's aesthetic, and I actually found the game world eerily beautiful to look at and explore. As soon as I emerged from Vault 101 I found myself getting slowly absorbed in the game, listening to the c.1950 soundtrack as I trekked across the desolate wastes. In fact, I got most of my fun with Fallout 3 from simply wandering across the Capital Wasteland, seeing what I could find. I still have yet to complete the game's main quest, actually, and with the sheer amount of things to do in the wastes, I doubt I will any time soon. Fallout 3 is far from perfect, but it does a hell of a lot of things right and I commend it for that. It's also far and away the most fun I've had with a game so far this year, and a deserving entry onto this list.
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As always, thanks for reading guys. Be sure to check back tomorrow when I'll be moving into my top ten favourite games. Please feel free to comment, I'd love to hear your opinions. If you missed them, you kind find parts one to three by clicking on the links to numbers 30 to 26, 25 to 21 and 20 to 16. As a minor gaming update, I've been working my way through Grand Theft Auto IV again in my second playthrough. The story and characters are just as strong as I remember them to be from my initial playthrough back in May last year. When I finish the main story missions, I'm going to get stuck into The Lost & Damned. After that, who knows? Maybe Dead Space. Maybe Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. Maybe BioShock. I have so many games to play through it's unreal. Perhaps playing some of those games will result in alterations to this list in future. We'll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, I have a bank to rob. See you around.
DanK
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Currently playing - Grand Theft Auto IV (X360) 6 Comments
Hey guys. Time for part three of my Top 30 Games list!
20. Second Sight
Second Sight had everything I could want in an action gamePlayStation 2 (2004)
I'm fairly certain this will come as a surprise to most readers. Second Sight went undetected by quite a few gamers, probably due to it not being quite so well-hyped by the media as developer Free Radical's TimeSplitters series. It was on this basis that I picked it up, although I wasn't quite sure what to expect given Free Radical had previously focused on FPS games. I was surprised to discover that Second Sight was not only a successful departure from what Free Radical did best, but also an outstanding game in its own right. The story was well-written and well-realised, to the point where it could have been crafted by a well-known writer of supernatural thrillers. It stays with me to this day as one of the best video game stories I've experienced - surprising considering the TimeSplitters games have always been lacking in the story department. The gameplay was also refreshing, employing psychic powers in order to provide a twist on the standard mix of stealth and shooting. Graphically the game still holds up well, with Free Radical's distinctive art style carried over from TimeSplitters giving the game its own unique personality. Sure, the physics were a bit janky at times, and the stealth stuff was a little irksome, but Second Sight was on the whole an incredible action game, thoroughly deserving of its spot on this list.
19. Spyro: Year of the Dragon
Year of the Dragon is Spyro's finest hourPlayStation (2000)
I used to be a huge fan of Spyro. You wouldn't know it from looking at him now, but there was a time when the little purple dragon was the PlayStation's hottest property. The peak of the series' brilliance, for me, is best illustrated by the third instalment - Spyro: Year of the Dragon. The game took everything that was great about Spyro 2: Gateway to Glimmer and amplified it to the point of near-perfection. The mission-based level structure was unlike anything else in platforming at the time, rewarding players for completing tasks while other games like the Crash series were still relying on the "find-the-object-hidden-in-the-level" method. The 150 eggs you had to find ensured plenty of mileage out of the game, and the activities required to win these eggs ranged from skateboarding, to hoverboard races, to shooting mini-games, to ice hockey, and many more. It also introduced new playable characters for the first time in the series, including a kangaroo, a military penguin, a secret agent monkey, and even Spyro's dragonfly buddy, Sparx. Each of these characters differed enough from Spyro to warrant different playing styles, without sacrificing the essence of the game itself. Year of the Dragon looked gorgeous, making the most of the PlayStation's limited hardware, and to top it all off was another stellar musical score delivered by Stewart Copeland. This is my mum's favourite game of all time, and it's easily one of mine, too.
18. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Wind Waker's art style still looks incredible todayGameCube (2003)
If memory serves me correctly, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker was my first proper Zelda game. I'd dabbled with a couple of the GameBoy games before, but I'd never seriously sat down to play a Zelda game before Wind Waker. That was probably a good thing, because it meant I went into it with no apprehension about the graphical style, and no real expectations relating to Ocarina of Time. As a result, I found Wind Waker to be an exhilirating ride from start to finish, with buckets of style, awesome characters and a compelling story. The gameplay was incredibly strong, with some expertly-designed dungeons and truly memorable boss fights breaking up the overworld exploration (which was also awesome - exploring the seas in search of new islands was always a blast). If anything makes Wind Waker stand out from the crowd, though, it's those cel-shaded graphics. The art style is one of the most memorable (and most impressive) of any game I've ever played, and it's one of the main reasons why I think I couldn't put the game down - I just didn't want to stop looking at it. I've since played Ocarina of Time, and while I do believe it's the better game, that could never negate the hours of fun I had with Wind Waker. There's just something about the way Wind Waker conducts itself (pardon the pun) that makes it the more memorable game in my eyes.
17. Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
Crash Bandicoot 2 is about as pure as PlayStation platformers comePlayStation (1997)
I can still remember fairly vividly the day my dad unplugged the Mega Drive and wired up the family's shiny new PlayStation for the first time. It came with two games - Rayman, which only narrowly escaped a mention on this list, and Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back. Crash Bandicoot 2 was, as a result of this, the first 3D game I ever played, and it's stuck with me to this very day as one of the best platformers for the original PlayStation. It didn't mess about with innovative new features. It simply took the winning gameplay from the original game, threw it into a new layout with five world hubs separated by boss battles, and added some shiny purple crystals for you to collect as an incentive for progress. Sure, there were some on-rails levels (who could forget that cute polar bear?), but for the most part it was unadulterated 3D platforming at its best. Crash 2 is also the game that I think best defines the series' unique sense of style and humour. From well-designed boss battles like Ripper Roo, Tiny Tiger and N. Gin, right down to the countless new death animations, the Crash universe really came into its own with the second game. There was even a pretty interesting plot going on, with Cortex deceiving Crash and manipulating him into collecting the crystals in order to use them for his own diabolical schemes. It's a shame the Crash series has become so saturated and bastardised now, but at least we have real gems like Cortex Strikes Back to look back on.
16. Tomb Raider
The original Tomb Raider was cinematic in scope and excellent in executionPlayStation (1996)
I've always been a fan of the Tomb Raider series. With the exception of The Angel of Darkness, I've loved every instalment (yes, even that Chronicles game). But despite the major advancements the series has made over the years, it's the original game that has made it onto my list. Tomb Raider set the benchmark for the modern action/adventure game with its impressive (at the time) visuals, intriguing plot and sweeping scale. The gameplay was revolutionary for its time, offering the player large 3D environments to explore and incorporating a healthy mixture of simple combat and complex puzzle-solving. It was also crammed full of cinematic moments that have stayed in the minds of gamers the world over for years - from the penalty incurred for stepping on the hand of Midas, to first glimpsing the enormous Sphinx in the Egyptian levels, to the truly unforgettable Tyrannosaurus encounter in the Lost Valley. I remember playing this with my parents a lot, often helping them out when they became stuck by making that difficult jump or finding that elusive lever. The game is pretty much unplayable now to all but the most perseverant of gamers due to its archaic control scheme, which in some ways is a shame. It can be relived in the form of Tomb Raider: Anniversary, a modern remake using the engine from Tomb Raider: Legend. Everybody who considers themselves a fan of the genre should at least check this out, though, to see both the origins of the concept and just how far it's come in the last thirteen years.
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Thanks for reading, guys. Writing this list has really made me want to go back and play some of these games. If I weren't so engrossed in my second playthrough of Grand Theft Auto IV, I'd probably break out the PS2 and get stuck back into them. As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the list, so please do comment. If you missed out on them, you can follow these links to parts one and two, which cover numbers 30 to 26 and 25 to 21 respectively. Be sure to check back tomorrow for part four, covering numbers 15 to 11. Once again, thanks for reading, and see you around.
DanK
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Currently playing - Grand Theft Auto IV (X360) 5 Comments
Hey guys. Today brings with it part two of my Top 30 Games list. I won't ramble on with an excessive preamble. Just get stuck in to five more of the games that shaped me into the gamer I am today.
25. Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus
Abe's Exoddus is a cracking 2D platformerPlayStation (1999)
I can still remember the moment I picked this game up. It was in 2000, in a convenience store in town. It cost me a paltry £9.99, incredibly cheap considering it was a new title. I didn't know what to expect going into Abe's Exoddus. I'd never played Abe's Odyssey, and was used to 2D platformers in the guise of Sonic the Hedgehog. What I got was a very pleasant surprise, and not just in the sense of a bargain. Abe's Exoddus is an incredible 2D platformer that checks all the right boxes. It has a gorgeous visual style that oozes originality, and boasts an entertaining story with a warped sense of charm. The gameplay is an enchanting mix of puzzle and platformer, with each set of Mudokons to rescue offering a challenging set-piece that the player has to solve through a mixture of possession and Gamespeak. It was a big game, too, with a total of 300 Mudokons to rescue across two discs. All this, and Abe's Exoddus wasn't even included as part of the intended Oddworld Quintology! The series' subsequently moved into 3D with Munch's Oddysee, but for me this will always be the definitive Oddworld game. I had so much fun with it that I can't help but include it in this list. Oh, and there's a fart button. You press it. And Abe farts. And if he's had a SoulStorm Brew, you can possess your own farts. And use them to blow stuff up. If that's not reason enough for putting this in the list, then I don't know what is.
24. Streets of Rage
Streets of Rage: because no list is complete without a side-scrolling brawlerMega Drive (1991)
I've never really cared for fighting games. As a result, you won't see any Street Fighters or Tekkens on this list, so I apologise for that. Despite this aversion towards pure beat-'em-ups, though, I used to be particularly fond of side-scrolling brawlers. I whittled away countless hours playing games like Altered Beast and Golden Axe on my Mega Drive, but the one that sticks out most in my memory is the original Streets of Rage. As far as gameplay goes, it followed the conventions of pretty much every other side-scrolling brawler on the Genesis at the time - one face button to jump, one face button to attack, and one button reserved for a special attack in the form of police back-up. What made it stand out for me as an impressionable kid was the style, I guess. The sprites looked good, and the environments were nice to look at as well, with some neat parralax scrolling. The music was funky and suited the game well. I played the sequels, but for some reason they just didn't stick with me as well as the original. Looking back on it now, I don't think I ever completed Streets of Rage. I can vividly remember making it to the level set on the boat on numerous occasions, but can't remember getting any further. Now that I have the Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection, I might have to go back to it and try to finally beat it.
23. Brian Lara Cricket '99
Brian Lara Cricket '99 is probably the best cricket game ever madePlayStation (1998)
Anybody who knows me will know that when it comes to sport, I only have two interests: cricket and darts. I've always favoured cricket over sports like football and tennis, probably because my dad has been playing it for as long as I can remember, and by extension so have I. I remember getting very excited about Brian Lara Cricket '99 when my dad brought it home from the local GAME store around ten years ago. It was a cricketer's dream, offering an array of national teams and several play modes, with everything from a ten-over quick match to a full test season on offer. The gameplay was fun for one person, but really came into its own in multiplayer, when two cricket enthusiasts dug into their trenches and prepared for war. The graphics were incredible for its time, boasting nice-looking players and breathtaking stadia. In spite of all the excellent features the game touted, though, it's the commentary that I remember most fondly. Featuring quotes from the legendary Sir Geoffrey Boycott, BLC99 was always going to be a winner. I don't think I'll ever get tired of hearing "sooper creeckeet!" in a thick Yorkshire accent. Other Brian Lara-endorsed games have been released since, but none have quite gripped me in the same way as this one. Maybe it's because of all the time I spent playing it with my dad, sharing in a faithful digital recreation of our favourite sport. That, or Geoffrey Boycott.
22. Gran Turismo 2
Gorgeous visuals and an insane level of depth make Gran Turismo 2 a personal favouritePlayStation (2000)
I'm not much of a car person. Sure, I can appreciate a nice-looking motor, but I'm not into the whole technical side of things. Gran Turismo 2, however, almost turned me into a car person. Unlike most of the games on this list, I didn't play it at the time of release. Instead, I only discovered the game in 2007, somewhat by accident. I'd played later games in the series fleetingly, but could never commit to them for any great length of time. GT2, by contrast, completely hooked me from the get-go and didn't let me go until the completion percentage read 100%. Despite not being overly interested in tweaking my car in most racing simulations, I put the effort in to tune my vehicles in GT2 so they performed exactly the way I wanted them to. I soon found myself lost in the sheer depth of the game, exploring all sorts of things that had never grabbed me at all in other similar games. The racing gameplay itself may not have been intuitive like Gran Turismo 4, but it was solid and certainly rewarded a willingness to experiment with different cars and settings. The graphics must have been truly sumptuous back in its day, and they still look pretty impressive from a technical perspective today. Ultimately, GT2 made it onto this list because it made me care about what I was driving. No mean feat for somebody who isn't a car person.
21. Pro Evolution Soccer 2
Pro Evolution Soccer 2 is the series' best iterationPlayStation 2 (2002)
As I've already said, I'm not much of a football person. I don't mind playing it, but I can't stand watching professional football. It irritates me that players are paid so much for what they do. Yes, they're talented, but they don't warrant that much attention. Anyway, back on topic, my favourite way to experience football is through the medium of video games. I talked about FIFA 99 earlier in the countdown, and now I'm going to address my personal favourite football game of all time - Pro Evolution Soccer 2, better known in the US as Winning Eleven 6. For me, PES2 marks the pinnacle of the series as a football simulation. It was released in 2002, at a time when the Pro Evolution Soccer franchise still had a relatively small cult following and wasn't directly competing with FIFA, leaving developers free to focus on what mattered - the football. It didn't look as nice as FIFA, nor did it offer licensed teams and competitions. That didn't matter to the people who played it, though, because PES2 offered some of the strongest gameplay witnessed in the series to date. In place of the official leagues was the all-encompassing Master League, something that easily consumed hours of my life back in the day. In fact, I think the only thing that consumed more of my time than playing PES2 on my own was playing PES2 with my friends. I sold my copy of the game some time ago to purchase a new incarnation of the series, and I frequently regret doing so. In fact, I'm thinking of buying the game again. Gameplay matters more to me than updated graphics and rosters, and the former is something that PES2 has in spades.
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Thanks for reading the second part of my list. Part three will be going up tomorrow, so make sure to check back if you're interested in seeing what's moved past these games and broken into the top twenty. People who missed the first part of my Top 30 Games list can find numbers 30-26 right here. In the meantime, see you around.
DanK
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Currently playing - Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Genesis Collection (X360) 8 Comments
Hey guys. Since a lot of people around here have been posting lists of their Top 30 Games, I figured I'd get in on the action and show my favourite games some love.
I'd like to get some things clear before we begin:
This list represents a selection of thirty of my all-time favourite games from all across my gaming years. As a result, it's not an illustration of what I think are the best games I've ever played. Just the ones that I had a ton of fun with and remember enjoying the most. Bear that in mind when reading, and the list may make a little more sense.
Apologies for the significant lack of Nintendo love across this list. I grew up with a Master System in the house, followed by a Mega Drive, then moved on to PlayStation before finally being able to choose my gaming oppotunities for myself. With the exception of the GameCube, I've never owned a Nintendo home console. So before you accuse me of any anti-Nintendo bias, it's not that I hate Mario, I just never played those games growing up.
I know it goes without saying, but this is my opinion. Mine. I don't expect you to agree with what I say in this list. I'll be very surprised if you do. With that being said, I do expect a little bit of respect for my own thoughts. I'm not going to slam your decisions, because I'm aware that the games you enjoy are your favourites for a reason. The same can be said of these. Please bear that in mind and be respectful when commenting.
With that little disclaimer out of the way, let's get this list underway!
30. Columns
I stacked up countless hours in ColumnsMega Drive (1990)
To most people, Columns will seem like little more than a cheap imitation of Tetris. To me, Columns is what Tetris is to numerous other people - the definitive puzzle game. The Sega Mega Drive was my first proper console. I remember a fleeting period where we had a Master System in the house, but it was the Mega Drive (or Genesis, if you're American) that really first got me into games. Columns was one of the first games we got for our Mega Drive (it was a family console) and it was probably the most family-oriented piece of gaming I can remember. Two or three evenings a week, all of us would gather around the console and take it in turns to play Columns. The objective was simple - to stack columns of jewels together in groups of three or more in order to clear them and gain points. A simple premise, but one that lends itself to addiction. My dad used to be incredibly good at it. I think he made it to Level 30-something on several occasions. Playing it back now as part of the Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection, I still get the same feeling that I got from playing it all those years ago. Columns may not have been as well-known as Tetris, but for me (and no doubt countless other Mega Drive players) it remains the seminal puzzle game. That's why it's present on this list.
29. FIFA 99
FIFA 99 was an early high point for the seriesPlayStation (1998)
I've never been big on football (or soccer, if you prefer). As a kid growing up, I took more interest in non-sporting activities like writing, or drawing. Now, as a young adult, I prefer other sports like cricket and darts. But there was a brief moment when I took a genuine interest in the beautiful game - namely, the season of 1998/99. For me, it will remain the golden era of football. Manchester United achieved an incredible treble, David Beckham was admired by the public for his footballing ability rather than his life, and Nottingham Forest were actually in the Premiership. Topping it all off was one of the PlayStation's best football games, FIFA 99. At the time, nothing could touch it. It had all the clubs, all the players, and all the leagues. The graphics, while not much to write home about now, set the benchmark back in the day. And, crucially, the gameplay was excellent. FIFA 99 was perhaps the only good 3D FIFA game before FIFA 2005, with an excellent control system and impressive AI for its time. Most interestingly, it will always be the game that got me interested in football games, a trend that continues to this day despite my distaste for the sport itself. I wasted several hours with FIFA 99, and if I had the chance I'd probably waste several more.
28. Worms Armageddon
Mindless violence at its most hilariousPlayStation (1999)
I've never been into strategy games. There are simply too many variables for me to worry about, which isn't good if you're somebody who worries as much as I do. The antidote to this is to play a strategy game where the strategy aspects of the game are cleverly masked beneath an overwhelming desire to crush your friends. This is the reason why Worms Armageddon has made it onto my list. I played this for hours on end with both friends and family, creating custom teams of worms and pitting them against each other in fights to the death. The visuals were irresistably charming and the 2D gameplay was perfectly balanced. It was a strategy game that never forced the strategy into the forefront, always placing the emphasis on hilarious combat and crazy weapons. In fact, I think it was the weapons that kept me coming back to Worms Armageddon, and indeed that keep me coming back to the follow-up, Worms World Party. There's just something about using a Banana Bomb, or an Old Lady, or even a Holy Hand Grenade, that is oh so very satisfying compared to the utilisation of more serious weaponry. Worms Armageddon's strength lies in its ability to turn you into a ruthless commander of a crack squad of worms, while still leaving you open to laugh at some truly hilarious moments. That's why it's on this list.
27. Grand Theft Auto 2
The birth of a gaming iconPlayStation (1999)
Some of you may not believe this, but I was into Grand Theft Auto before it got huge. I remember my friend bringing the original Grand Theft Auto over to my house when I was around eight, shocking my mother to the point where he was banned from visiting me. At some point, though, things changed, because she agreed to buy me Grand Theft Auto 2 just two years later (I'd like to point out that I don't condone the selling of adult games to minors, but I don't object to my mother's actions either). I spent whole afternoons cruising the streets of the game's nameless city, stealing cars and shooting passers-by. GTA2 wasn't well-received by critics, but it remains my favourite of the series' 2D incarnations for several reasons. Most notably, it introduced a number of features that would later go on to define the series - working for different gangs, completing multi-tiered missions and using a variety of weaponry to get the job done. There was also a lot to be gained simply by simply exploring the city in your own time and looking for bonus stuff. GTA2 rewarded people who were willing to stray from the game's missions and toy with its open-ended structure. For me, it's the definitive 2D GTA, and one of my favourite games of all time.
26. TimeSplitters 2
Monkeys are enough of a reason for TimeSplitters 2 to make this listPlayStation 2 (2002)
Prior to last year, I'd never been much of an FPS gamer. One exception to this rule was the excellent TimeSplitters 2. While the single-player campaign was quite dry and lacked any real drive, it was the multiplayer that kept me coming back for more. I remember spending hours upon hours at my friend's house with this game, playing deathmatch after deathmatch, and never getting tired of what it had to offer. It had pretty much everything you could expect from a multiplayer game in 2002: the weapon sets were perfectly balanced, it had all the standard multiplayer modes (Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture The Flag and Assault missions, as well as some more unorthodox ones like Virus), the maps felt like they were explicitly designed with four players in mind, and the gunning was fast and frantic. It even had a built-in Map Maker, encouraging players not only to develop the perfect multiplayer haven, but also enabling them to include their own objectives and even create their own single-player experience. The only thing it could be argued that TimeSplitters 2 lacked was an online multiplayer mode, something that was corrected in the sequel, Future Perfect. Even to this day, TimeSplitters 2 stands head and shoulders above the competition as probably the best multiplayer shooter available for the PlayStation 2.
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Well, that's it for today. Be sure to check back tomorrow for numbers 25 to 21. If any of you would like to comment, feel free to do so. I'd love to hear your opinions after sharing my own with you. Thanks for reading guys, see you around
DanK
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Currently playing - Burnout Paradise (X360) 7 Comments
Hey guys. It's that time again, where I sit down at the computer and spend an hour or two pouring my musings onto this page.
Crashes in Burnout Paradise look incredibleSo after an eleven-week stint at University, I'm back at home for the Easter break. I remembered to bring my 360 back with me this time, so I've been playing plenty of games over the weekend. Most of my time has been spent with the two new purchases I mentioned in my last blog; Burnout Paradise and SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection (Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection, to all American readers). I've never been heavily into the Burnout franchise, and Paradise isn't going to change that, but it is proving to be a lot of fun in short bursts. The visuals are very impressive (the audio less so) and I'm liking the open-world, do-things-at-your-own-pace set-up. SMDUC serves its purpose as a compilation of Mega Drive (Genesis) games, although the achievements feel very tacked on, which is a shame, because I can't help but think there was potential for some really inventive ones (think along the same lines of what Valve did with The Orange Box). I was looking forward to approaching old childhood friends like Sonic the Hedgehog and Streets of Rage with a fresh attitude. Instead, I get 50 Gamerscore for viewing a load of artwork that doesn't even have to be unlocked. To be fair, there are a few genuinely challenging ones (completing Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine won't be an easy feat), but for the most part the achievements seem very half-arsed.
dankempster will be LIVE very soon...I'm also in the process of getting hooked up to Xbox LIVE on a semi-permanent basis. I figured I might as well take advantage of being at home, where I don't have to worry about the God-awful University accommodation network. I've already set myself up with a Gamertag - dankempster, for those of you interested in adding me to their friend lists. I've also signed up for a month's free Gold membership. Now I'm just waiting on a nice long Ethernet cable to turn up so I can wire up the 360, and I'll be good to go. I've also ordered a card for 1600 MS points, with the intention of buying The Lost & Damned DLC for Grand Theft Auto IV. While I've never been much of a competitive online gamer (I tend to prefer a strong, story-driven single player experience when it comes to playing games) I look forward to hopefully meeting some of you online over the next few weeks.
Compulsion is as ugly as this... thingTruth be told, I'm starting to get a little worried about my tendency to buy games. Now that we're well into 2009 I'm starting to feel the expected urges to catch up on all the games I missed last year (hence the purchase of Burnout Paradise, I guess). The downside of this, besides having next to no money to my name, is that I'm slowly but surely adding to my list of games I have yet to finish. My friend bought me BioShock as a birthday present a couple of weeks ago, and I still have yet to put any real time into that. I bought Dead Space the other day in order to push my Amazon order up into the free delivery price range. Then, while I was in town today, I picked up Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts and a disc containing the Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine additional content for Oblivion. I think I'm going to put a curb on my game-purchasing for the time-being, so I can catch up with myself and play through some of these games.
In news not related to video games, I went to see Paul Weller play live at the O2 Arena last night. Anybody who knows me personally will be aware of how much I love the Modfather, placing him second only to The Who in terms of my favourite musical acts of all time. I'm an avid listener of both his solo work and his output with The Jam (although I've never been much of a Style Council fan), so going to see the guy perform live was an incredible opportunity and he didn't disappoint. For a fifty-year-old man, Weller still has a lot of energy and charisma, and the chemistry between him and his new solo band was so electric I think everybody in the audience could taste it. He stormed through rock numbers like Peacock Suit and From The Floorboards Up with arms and guitar flailing in unison, let his airy voice and piano do the work on the lighter songs like Invisible, and managed to breathe new life into older songs like Wild Wood while still preserving their original magic. While seeing Weller didn't mean as much to me as witnessing The Who back in 2007, I can safely say that it was the more enjoyable of the two gigs. That's one more thing I can cross off my list of things to do before I die.
I guess that'll do for this blog. I'm not sure what to tell you to expect from me next, because my head is so full of thoughts it's impossible to tell which ones will turn into meaningful blogs in the near future. I have Morrowind to talk about, GTAIV to get back into, and all those aforementioned games to start playing. In addition, I have a lot of work to get on with this Easter break - four 2500/3000-word essays on top of all the reading I've been set. That being said, I'm seriously thinking about doing one of those Top Thirty Games Of All Time lists that everybody seems to be doing at the moment. Thanks for reading, guys. See you around.
DanK
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Currently playing - SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection (X360) 4 Comments
Hey there guys. Once again, I'm sorry to begin a blog with a personal note, but I really feel the need to do so this time. I'd like to open with a few words in memory of my beloved dog, Freckles, who was humanely put to sleep on Tuesday night following a brief but crippling battle with a tumour. I'm still very upset about the whole thing. Mostly because I wasn't there with her when she went. Being at University, I hadn't seen her since the beginning of January, and I'm really annoyed with myself about not being able to say goodbye. She was an incredible animal with a truly unique personality, and it will be very weird going home tomorrow and not seeing her when I walk through the front door.
Like I said, I'm going back home tomorrow, to be with my family over the Easter break. I'm really looking forward to going back and spending time with them. In all honesty I think it's where I need to be at this moment in time, given the circumstances. While I'm at home over Easter I intend to hook my 360 up to Xbox LIVE for the first time and look into purchasing some DLC while I can (I'd really like to check out The Lost & Damned). It will only be a silver membership for now, so I'm sorry I won't be able to hook up with you guys and play those video games you're all so crazy about. I intend to change that come June or July, when I can afford the LIVE gold fee and won't have to worry about the pesky University accommodation network. Mind you, the fact that I won't be playing online is probably just as well, considering I have a whopping four essays to complete over the holiday. Between you and me, I don't think these University folk understand the meaning of the word "break".
In a brief gaming update, I bought myself two new games this week; Burnout Paradise and Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection. I haven't had a chance to get to grips with either of them yet, but I'm sure that will change over the next few days. I'm going to remember to take my 360 home with me for this break, and not make the mistake I made over Christmas. My copy of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind also turned up on Tuesday, so I'll probably give that a spin either tonight or tomorrow afternoon. In other news, I finally managed to install the New Xbox Experience on my 360 this morning through what may be considered the ultimate bastardisation of technology. In short, I saved the NXE update on my PSP and used it as a USB memory stick by plugging the cable into my 360. The console recognised the handheld as a flash drive and proceeded to install the update. I'm liking it right now, and I definitely prefer it to the old blades from an aesthetic point of view. I also can't get over how quiet my 360 is after installing BioShock to the hard drive. This is something I could get used to...
So that's gonna do it for this blog. Thanks for reading guys. Sorry about the brevity and somber tone of this blog, but I'm still reeling from the events of the last few days. I hope to be fairly active over the Easter break, so expect a few more substantial blogs over the next few weeks. In the meantime, see you around.
Hey guys. Before I get too carried away with the usual scope of my blogging, I'd like to throw something out there. On Friday I had to find accommodation for my next year at University. Initially I was going to be living with five friends in a house, but that plan kind of went out the window when my girlfriend and I were betrayed by our group of friends at the last minute and basically told to find a place for ourselves. So we did. It's not amazing; it's very small and quite expensive for what it is. But it's very well looked after, ideal for our needs and the landlord seems like a stand-up guy. Perhaps most importantly, though, it's less than five minutes away from my favourite pub. Want to know something even better? The guys who kicked us out of the group still have yet to find somewhere to live. Yeah, karma's a wonderful thing. Here are some pictures of the place, for those of you who like that sort of thing.
Gallery
Now, on to the meat of the blog!
Oblivion is a gorgeous gameSo, with the free time I've had since polishing off my last essay, I intended to play some more of Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise. Truth be told, I didn't. In fact, I haven't touched it since I wrote the blog where I explicitly stated that I would soon be blogging in detail about VP:TiP. The reason for this is The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Anybody who's been following my blog for a reasonable length of time will know that I've been trying to get into Oblivion for quite a while, but haven't been able to, probably because of the epic scale and daunting level of depth it has to offer. I'm not sure what possessed me to do so, but shortly after finishing my blog on Canis Canem Edit, part of me decided to give the game yet another chance. After plodding through the rather painful hour-long opening sequence (another one of the reasons I had so much trouble getting into the game, I think), I stepped out of the Imperial Dungeons and out into the province of Cyrodiil. And from there, I was completely hooked. I've been playing for about twenty-five hours now, and most of that time has been spent just wandering across the game world, exploring new areas and looting dungeons. I've hardly touched the main quest, although I've dabbled in working for a couple of the Guilds. If I had to sum up Oblivion in three words, they would be huge, deep and beautiful.
Fallout 3 hooked me from the off with its open-world gameplay and post-apocalyptic settingLong-time readers will no doubt be aware of my similar experience with Fallout 3 earlier this year. I wasn't too sure about picking it up at first. Given the negative experience I'd had trying to get into Oblivion, I didn't want to go through something similar with Fallout 3. On the other hand, the post-apocalyptic aesthetic really grabbed my attention compared to the swords-and-sorcery setting of Oblivion that has been done a hundred times before. I picked it up for Christmas and played the hell out of it throughout January up until the death of my first 360 in early February. The open-world stuff was liberating without being too daunting, and I loved the freeform style of gameplay it seemed to encourage. Everything about the Capital Wasteland seemed to have been painstakingly and lovingly crafted, with a level of attention to detail that makes the word 'meticulous' seem inadequate. In summary, I think my time with Fallout 3 eased me nicely into the concept of the open-world RPG and probably made returning to Oblivion seem like a much less daunting prospect.
Bethesda really care about what they createUltimately, I like both games for similar reasons - their open-world, freeform-style RPG gameplay, their gorgeous visuals, and their incredible scope, depth and attention to detail. This is, of course, because both of these games were developed by the same company - Bethesda Softworks. In fact, I think the main reason why I and so many other people love Oblivion and Fallout 3 is because Bethesda clearly love them too. Both games are evidently labours of love, products of thousands of hours of development which ensures that each and every detail within the game world is consistent with the greater universe to which it belongs. One only has to look at the books scattered around Cyrodiil to realise just how much thought has gone into creating the fictional world of Nirn within which the events of Oblivion unfold.
Perhaps that's another reason why I can really identify with Bethesda's approach to realising their game worlds and delivering a truly immersive gaming experience. I myself am a writer (in case the thoughts I put across in my blogs don't make it obvious enough), and have aspirations of eventually creating a piece of epic fantasy fiction within a self-contained universe. While I'm not going to go into a lot of detail regarding that (I'd prefer to push this blog out this side of Easter), it's precisely because of this that I can really appreciate the work Bethesda does. In fact, I'm kind of envious of their ability to do what they do. As you may know if you've read one of my older blogs, you'll know that storytelling within video games is something of an interest of mine. By extension of this, so is the creation of a believable fictional universe. I just hope that one day, my own creation will end up seeing the light of day, whether in the form of a book, or a game, or whatever. Yesterday I ordered myself a copy of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. I'm looking forward to seeing more of the Elder Scrolls universe and getting to grips with another Bethesda game that I'm almost certain I'm going to love just as much as the ones I've already played. Thanks very much for reading, guys. In the meantime, I have some Oblivion Gates to close...
DanK
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Currently playing - The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (X360) 20 Comments
Welcome to Bullworth Academy!Rockstar's Canis Canem Edit (Bully to any Americans reading this) is one of the greatest action games available for the PlayStation 2. I think a fair number of people would be willing to agree with me on that. I've just finished playing through the game's main story, and I can honestly say I didn't expect it to grip me like it did. I got it for Christmas way back in 2006, I think, and played about halfway through it before losing interest and abandoning it. When my Xbox 360 died last month, I decided to take it down from the shelf and give it a second chance. Boy, am I glad I did. Canis Canem Edit is an overlooked gem, an example of the open-world action game done right. Admittedly, this is what Rockstar do best. After all, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is considered by many to be the developer's best effort on the PS2. I am going to make my position on this known right now - in my opinion, Canis Canem Edit is not only a highly underappreciated title, but it is also Rockstar's crowning achievement as a developer of PS2 games and a much better game than San Andreas in almost every respect. While I'm expecting to receive a lot of flak for taking this stance, I'm not going to back down. In fact, I'm going to tell you why I've come to this decision, outlining all the things that make Canis Canem Edit the better game in my eyes.
The smaller environment makes for a much tighter gameFor a start, Canis Canem Edit takes place in a much smaller game world than San Andreas. The state of San Andreas is vast, comprising threemajorcities, several smaller towns, and all manner of terrain including open fields, mountains and deserts. By contrast, the town of Bullworth is probably around half the size of any one of San Andreas' main cities. Rather than producing a sprawling map with a lot of empty spaces, the developers created a small map packed with detail, encouraging and rewarding exploration without alienating the player with open areas of nothingness. This really pays off for Canis Canem Edit, because you never feel removed from the experience; there's always something to engage with, or somewhere to explore. The game world feels tight and focused, which is a major factor in successfully drawing the player in. Part of the problem with San Andreas for me was that it didn't have this focus, because it was always more interested in constantly bombarding the player with the bigger picture, and thus didn't offer the same level of immersion that can be found in Canis Canem Edit.
Quality writing ensures Canis Canem Edit's interactions are never dullFurther contributing to this feeling of a tight, focused product is the high standard of writing present in the game. Bullworth Academy may be a stereotypical high school, but it's a stereotypical high school with a difference. Sure, you have your standard cliques; the nerds, the jocks, the preppies, the bullies, etc. But each of these cliques is a memorable entity in its own right - can anybody who's played Canis Canem Edit honestly say interacting with the nerds wasn't hilarious? Then there are the adults, who in my opinion just make this game. Who could ever forget the outrageous and disgusting Cook? Or teachers like Galloway and Hattrick? Yes, it's all ripped straight from stereotypes, but it's saved by Rockstar's tendency to satire. The dialogue is sharp and funny at all times, and the characters and cliques are well-realised too. Perhaps most importantly, the game features an interesting protagonist in the form of Jimmy Hopkins, and an equally interesting antagonist in Gary Smith. I'm not saying San Andreas isn't well written. I still think it is. But, once again, it tries to cover too much scope. The Los Santos portion of the game is wonderfully executed, so it's a real shame that the story and characters stop being interesting once you leave. Furthermore, Carl Johnson isn't really an interesting character, especially when compared with Jimmy, or even Vice City's Tommy Vercetti.
The combat in Canis Canem Edit is miles ahead of the GTA gamesIt's not just in these areas that Canis Canem Edit trumps San Andreas for me, either. The gameplay shows a number of marked improvements and refinements to the established formula that ultimately just make it a lot more fun to play. Being set in the school environment makes for some really interesting gameplay changes, most of which is reflected in the game's combat system. The hand-to-hand combat is way more fleshed out than the system seen in any of the GTA games on PS2, with a large number of melee combos at Jimmy's disposal. Even the weapons, like the Slingshot and the Spud Cannon, are a lot of fun to use and feel well-balanced in terms of the power-to-ammo ratio. The missions are a hell of a lot of fun, too. Before your time with the game is over, you'll have stolen knickers from the girls' dorm for a pervy Gym teacher, taken incriminating photos of the most popular girl in school, and even tagged Town Hall. Not to mention all the clique related, taking-over-the-school stuff, complete with some really awesome action sequences made even better by the satisfying combat. As with everything else in San Andreas beyond the opening chapter, very few of the missions you undertake seem to have any real focus. Why is stealing a military fighter plane important in terms of freeing your brother from prison? By contrast, everything you do in Canis Canem Edit seems relevant in terms of your interests; that is to say, trying to take control of the various cliques and rule the school while keeping the staff sweet along the way. Maybe it's also because San Andreas is so long - easily a thirty- to forty-hour experience, compared with Canis Canem Edit's fifteen-hour-long main story.
Canis Canem Edit is all about attention to detailMore than anything, though, it's the little touches that give Canis Canem Edit the edge. Throughout this blog, I've been comparing San Andreas' combination of grand scope and lack to focus to Canis Canem Edit's smaller game world and greater attention to detail, and this is what it all boils down to. Canis Canem Edit is filled with little things that make you stop playing and silently congratulate the developers for crafting something so lovingly. Watching the students of Bullworth Academy go about their daily business, attending classes, stopping in the corridors for a quick chat, bullying and being bullied, makes you realise just how much effort Rockstar put into bringing this world to life. What makes it even better is that you're able to do all this too, and so much more besides. The school scenario opens up so many possibilities to do things that will make you giggle uncontrollably for prolonged periods of time. There's just something about throwing marbles under the feet of an old lady, or pulling the school fire alarm for kicks, or throwing a stolen textbook back at its owner that just never gets old. In a ten minute period of game time the other day, I witnessed a same-sex couple holding hands as they walked down the street, saw an old lady riding a moped complete with crash helmet, and heard a nerd say something like, "I'm a really good kisser, I've practised for years on my arm." Bullworth is a world you will get lost in, whether you want to or not, and it's these little touches that make that possible.
Could Niko Bellic be a spiritual descendant of Jimmy Hopkins?If you're a fan of the Grand Theft Auto franchise, you may be thinking that a lot of these points could also be used to describe Rockstar's latest foray into open-world action gaming, Grand Theft Auto IV. It too is a game that sacrifices a wide scope and jack-of-all-trades attitude in favour of a much tighter, more focused gaming experience tied to a well-crafted, character-driven story. It too attempts to refine the gameplay experience and craft a living, breathing world bursting with interesting little details. All these things seem to have been carried over from lessons learned by Rockstar in the creation and execution of Jimmy Hopkins' story. In this respect, Canis Canem Edit can be seen as a stepping stone towards GTAIV, and much more of a spiritual predecessor than San Andreas ever was. By looking at Canis Canem Edit in this way, it becomes even easier to appreciate its importance and also its brilliance.
So there's my two cents on Canis Canem Edit, and why I'm willing to fight its corner when it comes to naming the best of the best on PS2. Thanks for reading, guys. See you around.
DanK
--- Currently playing - Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise (X360) 6 Comments
Hey guys. Once again, I intended to push this blog out a lot earlier than I actually have, so apologies for the delay. I had an essay to write concerning the concept of the epic journey within works of literature, so I didn't have much time to even play games, let alone write about them. After submitting it, I'm now finally free to stretch my fingers and blog for a while. I've got a fair bit to say, so let's see where things go.
The Ocean's films surprised me with how well constructed the heists were So yeah, it was my birthday on Saturday. I'm now nineteen years old. To be honest, it really doesn't feel any different from being eighteen. I had a pretty awesome day though. I was woken up by my girlfriend and spent the morning with her, then my family came to visit me for the afternoon. We went out together for a drink, then I spent the evening watching films and playing games for an hour or two (more on that later). I didn't get an awesome birthday cake, and I didn't have anybody sing Happy Birthday to me, but that's cool. I'm not a big birthday kind of guy, so it was nice to just spend a whole day relaxing with the people I care about.
For my birthday, I got just over £200, plus the Ocean's films on DVD courtesy of my girlfriend. I've watched all three of these films over the past few days and I have to say they really impressed me. For people who aren't aware of it, there's a TV show in the UK called Hustle, about a group of grifters who construct elaborate plans in order to con ruthless businessmen out of vast sums of money. Feel free to ask resident hustler SuperMooseman if you'd like to learn more about this awesome show. My girlfriend bought me the Ocean's films because they're built on a similar premise, just on a much larger scale and with an all-star cast. While I'm not generally a fan of films boasting A-list celebrity after A-list celebrity, I was really impressed with the elaborate casino heists in the films. Not one, but three George Clooney films that I enjoyed. Who'd have thought it?
Back in businessWhile some of the birthday money I got will be going towards covering my food expenses for the rest of term at University, I've spent some of it to replace my Xbox 360. For those of you who weren't aware, I was burgled just over a week ago, and lost my DS, my MP3 player, and my 360. After coming to terms with the fact I'm not likely to see any of that stuff again, I decided to shell out for a new Arcade model with a 256MB internal memory unit. Not ideal, but it'll do for now, considering I'm not currently hooked up to Xbox LIVE. I can always invest in a hard drive when I come into a bit more cash. Of course, when my old 360 was stolen, they also took my hard drive, and this means I've lost my former gamer profile, along with all the Achievement points and Gamerscore attached to it. Basically, I'm starting from scratch with a clean slate. This doesn't bother me too much, because I'm not really an Achievement whore, but I had just started to rake in the points before my last 360 tragically passed away, and now they're all gone for good. What's slightly more annoying is the loss of save data for games like Fallout 3, Grand Theft Auto IV and The Orange Box, probably totalling around 100 hours between them. That's a little bit of a bastard.
Bully may well be Rockstar's crowning PS2 achievementDespite replacing my 360, it's my PS2 that has seen most activity over the past couple of days. Why? Because I've become addicted to Canis Canem Edit (Bully for all the American readers). It's one of the many games I have yet to finish, although I'm now intent on changing that. After sinking a good twelve to fifteen hours into the game over the last ten days or so, I honestly think it represents Rockstar's finest hour on the PlayStation 2, even more so than Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. I don't want to go into too much detail here (I'd rather save that for a future blog), but the game has a hell of a lot going for it. The writing is sharp and satirical, as you'd expect from Rockstar. The gameplay is spot on, with some marked improvements over the standard GTA formula. But what really grabbed me was the amount of depth and detail poured into the gameworld. Bullworth Academy is a living, breathing school, and the town around it is brimming with cool stuff to find. Yes, it's a small map, but the game is all the better for it - what it loses in scope, it gains in focus. I don't think I've ever experienced such a tight, well-constructed action game, with the obvious exception of Grand Theft Auto IV. In fact, Canis Canem Edit may be more of a spiritual predecessor to GTAIV than San Andreas. But I digress. Long story short, Canis Canem Edit is rapidly becoming one of my favourite games of all time. More on that in the future.
Nothing can come between a man and his pinataWhen my 360 has been on, I've been sampling Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise. I've been interested in this for quite a while, and Brad's review of the game actually persuaded me to spend some money on it. I bought it just before the death of my last 360 and never actually got to play it, so pretty much as soon as I'd set up the new 360 I grabbed the game and booted it up. I've not played much of it, and when I have played I've mostly been messing around, going gooey over all the cute little pinatas and getting to grips with the interface. I have to admit, there seems to be a lot more depth here than I initially anticipated. I guess I was lulled into a false sense of security by the visual style. That being said, I'm really enjoying it, and can't wait to pour some more time into it over the weekend. After growing tired of the Harvest Moon franchise some time ago, this could well be the replacement I've been holding out for.
Valkyrie Profile 2 features some really nice variations on conventional JRPG combatI've also been trying to get back into playing JRPGs. I haven't devoted any decent amount of time to a JRPG since I played through Final Fantasy IV last year, so I'm itching to get back into them considering they're one of my favourite genres. The game that has been granted the monumental task of getting me back into the swing of things is Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria. I've played about fifteen hours worth of it over the last three weeks and it had really gripped me up until I started playing Canis Canem Edit. I played a fair bit of the first game some time ago (or at least, the PSP remake) and from what I've played so far, it was a nice choice in terms of getting re-acquainted with JRPGs. The story isn't exactly typically Japanese, although there are some telling factors that give the game away. Instead, it's rooted in a loose interpretation of Norse mythology, which makes for a welcome change. What's really impressed me so far is the combat in the game; it's kind of a hybrid of real-time and turn-based combat, with each party member's attacks assigned to a face button on the PS2 controller. By pressing buttons with different combinations and timings, it's possible to string together some pretty impressive combos, and because of this combat can get fairly tactical in terms of trying to fill the attack meter and trigger a Soul Crush special attack. I'm also really liking the 2D-style dungeon crawling and the implementation of photon puzzles, even if they don't feature quite as heavily as I'd like. If I had to criticise it in any way, it would be that it's not very forgiving, but that could just be because I'm a bit out of practice where JRPGs are concerned.
Before I close, I'd like to finish with my opinions of the site update.I got pretty excited about it, and after having just over a week to adjust to the new navigation, I'm really liking it. The layout is less cluttered, although I do miss the navigation and my friends' blog updates being in immediate view on the left side of my profile screen. All the qualms I had with the old profile layout have pretty much been addressed; the reviews have been squished so the whole text isn't displayed, resulting in a shorter profile page, which is very nice. I'm liking the new aesthetics, too. All the Wiki pages are looking a lot less cluttered now, which is a welcome change. What I think is most impressive is how all the guys in charge of the redesign have made the site look a lot smoother and more inviting, without compromising the unique sense of style associated with Giant Bomb. Kudos to Snide, Coonce, and everybody else involved in the redesign. Here's hoping that anything else they're working on will be just as awesome.
So, there you have it. Now I have a much smaller workload for the next week or so, I intend to write up a couple more blogs over the coming days. Before the end of next week, you can expect:
A Discovering Gaming Greatness blog on Canis Canem Edit, explaining why I think Rockstar's overlooked gem is much better than San Andreas.
Some more detailed opinions of Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise, once I've spent some more time with it.
Perhaps something related to writing, and some teaser details on my work-in-progress epic novel.
Thanks for reading, guys. See you around.
DanK
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Currently playing - Canis Canem Edit (PS2) 7 Comments
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