Well, its been a rather odd couple of weeks, I've been sucked into the 5 year old drug addicts world of Little Big Planet yet again, drawn into the phenomenon of COD4 online along with starting to play regular Quake Wars online matches, tried out for the "Random Pro Guys" TF2 team and failed (miserably), finished Trine (I'm about to go through again on very hard while getting 100%) and finally: started, and finished with Battlefield: Heroes.

So lets start with LBP shall we? The reason I actually started it up again was because of the so called "Mm picks". These are levels that the guys at Media Molecule really enjoyed. So after looking at one of these I went and played it and was really good. So now I'm going back to my level which has been in production for a few months and still is. On top of this there are new Ghostbuster costumes in line with the new game.

Next up is COD4 and I have to say it is much better on PC than console, way more fun plus it has an actual server browser so I don't have to deal with that matchmaking shit. This is actually a new experience for me, playing a persistent online game regularly like this. I've mostly been playing 32 player Free-for-all DM on shipment. Sure it takes 4 deaths for you to get away from the spawn point but you surprisingly don't get as frustrated as you might think. I'm currently level 23 or so from doing this and Hardcore Headquarters for about 3-4 days.

As well as this I've started playing Quake Wars online seriously after gifting it to a friend over steam. This is really good fun, I play as the Engineer because of his amazing ability to get ridiculous amounts of xp. Park the MCP in front of a anti-vehicle turret and just constantly repair it. It gets you TONNES!

Now we move on to the blood-bath of a try out for the "Random Pro Guys Dream Team" a subsidiary of the "Random Pub Guys". Now I would have done fine (maybe not have got in though) if not for a few problems.

1. I had never played the map before and it was an official map, not some custom piece of shit.
2. It was a CP map I had never played before, I usually stick to CTF because that's what I'm good at, exceptionally so.
3. I have a strange feeling that our entire team had the same problems as me, now if  team isn't effective usually the individual isn't either in a CP map.

Surprisingly team communication was there, most of us had mics. So we started off with the usual opening gambit of 3 or 4 scouts followed by 2 heavies and 3 medics and the rest just being either what they were good at, or what they needed to be. Despite this reasonable loadout we lost the first point within a couple of minutes and never got it back (this was a 5 point map). Our second one went down pretty fast too, we did go for a few pushes every now and then, but barely got anywhere with the amount of snipers they had covering it. Although we gave them a hell of a time defending the last point, it wasn't enough.

The next 2 rounds were pretty much the same, although the 3rd round we held out for a very long time. Then the server admin said "Alright that's the end of the trials, I'll post up the results on steam tomorrow". Then, to my dismay, the next round (on Goldrush I think?) our team ripped up! We made an amazing defense and offense machine. But it didn't count and I was very annoyed.

The next day when the results were posted, I found that the heavy I had been medic-ing for the entire time got a "honourable mention" as it were for "great defense". Where was I? The person who had been keeping him alive so he could defend was nowhere to be found on the list.

But that's enough of that for now, shall we move onto Trine? Yes I thought so, who wants to read my rants. Well... Great game, that's about it, loved the final level where you have to climb up a tower filling up with lava with all of your characters abilities combined (though the thief more than anyone else). It looks really pretty, the characters are actually interesting to listen to for a change. Just full of all round cleverness, the only thing this game lacks is length and perhaps a level editor.

Now, onto my final topic: Battlefield Heroes. Look, it's fun, don't get me wrong. But I can't really see myself playing it anymore. There are a few reasons for this, some of them gameplay related, some of them not. But, to a TF2 migrant and before that a UT2K4 migrant, they a very prominent.

1. Headshots aren't instant kills, they merely provide a damage bonus of about 20 points. I haven't measured of course, but that's what it feels like. I like the feel in TF2 or UT of a good headshot. A big contributor to this is the sound file that plays when you get one. Be it the "Headshot" in UT, or the indescribable noise and wonderful green text that appears in TF2. But that just simply isn't there in BFH.
2. Backstabs aren't instant kills, they don't even provide the measly damage bonus that the headshot does. Now any TF2 player will tell you that the most satisfying thing about that game is getting a backstab. That release of tension from sneaking around, avoiding Pyros and hiding from the person you're disguised as, feels beautiful when coupled with the wonderful noise that comes with a backstab.
3. Connection issues. 'Nuff said. And if you don't have any, and don't think there are any. Just check the BFH forums.
4. Tanks are OP, they don't take any damage from small arms fire. I wouldn't at least mind doing 1 damage per second to it, at least I would feel that I'm making a difference.
5. Making us rent our weapons. This basically means I need to get enough virtual currency every however long to keep using my upgraded heavy machine gun. Even if you're using real money you still can't buy weapons outright.
6. On the same note micro-transactions are never good. NEVER!

I could probably write down a few more but I feel like doing something more constructive right now, like finishing off that LBP level. Anyway, thanks for reading.

Until next time, SL33T.