http://www.avforums.com/forums/blogs/cas-fan-30204/ Home Entertainment and Audio Visual Home Consumer Electronics news, reviews and discussion forum en Sun, 12 Feb 2012 08:32:21 GMT vBulletin 60 http://forums.images.vb.static-avforums.com/misc/rss.jpg http://www.avforums.com/forums/blogs/cas-fan-30204/ http://www.avforums.com/forums/blogs/cas-fan-30204/172-december-gaming.html Mon, 24 Dec 2007 23:54:28 GMT Well, i'm just not going to get round to my weekly updates and I guess they are a bit too regular anyway. So this is really a look back at what's happened since my last update and really covers most of December.

As mentioned previously I was just about to receive Uncharted: Drakes Fortune so I guess that's as good a place as any to start. Firstly I wasn't overly impressed by the demo so did approach this with some caution. Reviews and people's feedback on the forum tended to point towards the game being very good however so I thought it worth a punt.

So the game arrived and I gave it ago. The first thing that strikes you is that it is a superbly good looking game. The initial section on the boat really sets the game up well and i'm glad to say that this title goes on from strength to strength. The gameplay is always fun and action packed and the story is very involving and is certainly one of the better video game stories of late. I do love a good story to this type of game and this really doesn't disappoint. The cut scenes are all done with the in fantastic in game engine and graphically everything is of a high standard throughout.

The game has been likened to Tomb Raider and there are a lot of similarities. The emphasis is much more on the combat in this game and the puzzles you come across are all pretty basic compared to the Tomb Raider games. The combat could do with a bit of work, but it does work well and everything just feels right about this game. I'll confess that i've not finished this game yet (got distracted (as I often do) by another game) but i've played about 3/4 of it so far.

Downsides are the awful explosions, which are shockingly bad and the fact that the controls can be a bit fiddly from time to time (like when trying to pick up ammo) but really they are just minor things. Overall this game is an excellent platform/3D adventure title and i'd give it a solid 9/10. :)

Now I said that I got distracted by a game and that game is the Japanese version of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. Now I approached this title with even more scepticism than I did with Uncharted. Firstly I felt that GT4 was a let down, especially after all the delays and secondly I have become a fan of Turn 10's Forza games. Upto this point Forza was the king IMO and the latest update (Forza 2) is a very good game indeed. That has changed in my eyes as really GT5p just blows away the competition.

Graphically it delivers as you'd expect from a GT game. The car models are simply superb in their near photorealistic guises and this time the interiors are also rendered in typical Polyphony style with every bit of stitching accurately rendered as you race round in your shiny new motor. The circuits are as accurately recreated as ever and look more detailed and realistic than ever before. In this slimmed down version of the full game we are treated to London, Daytona, Fuji, Suzuka tracks as well as the Eiger Nordwand track from the GT HD demo. Daytona has the famous oval circuit as well as the road course using a mixture of oval and infield section, Fuji has the normal track and a GT version of the track with the chicane removed, Eiger Nordwand & London just have forward and reverse variants and Suzuka has the full circuit and the smaller Suzuka East circuit.

Anyway, how does it play? Superbly is the only answer to that. Infact it plays better than any other console sim racer i've ever played (including Forza 1 & 2 and every other GT game). The physics just seem way more advanced than even Forza 2 and the handling of each car is different and feels exactly as you would expect. I've not driven most of the cars in the game in real life so I can't say how accurate the handling is, but it certainly feels right and adds significantly to the gameplay. There's a wide range of cars in the game ranging from the likes of the Suzuki Swift to Ferrari's, BMW M3's, the Nissan GTR, the Audi R8, the Dodge Viper GTS and many more (over 35 in total IIRC).

Anyway the long and the short of it is that this game (even though it's just a cut down preview of the full game) is brilliant and if you have a PS3 i'd recommend either importing it, or getting a ticket for the Japanese store and buying it via a Japanese account. The online functionality is apparently becoming available on Christmas Day so that will be interesting to try out. :)

So that's about it really....not really been playing anything else this month. I indend to get back to Mario Galaxy and some of my other unfinished games over the festive season (if I can pull myself away from GT5p).

So that only leaves me to wish you all a Merry Christmas and happy gaming in 2008! :thumbsup: ]]> CAS FAN http://www.avforums.com/forums/blogs/cas-fan-30204/172-december-gaming.html http://www.avforums.com/forums/blogs/cas-fan-30204/131-week-life-console-gamer.html Fri, 30 Nov 2007 10:57:21 GMT So thanks to Stuart we've got this great new Blog feature on the forums. Personally I feel that it's a great addition which will hopefully expand the usage of the forum even further for many members.

Anyway, I guess that as my main AV related hobby is that of gaming (particularly on consoles at this time), I felt that it would be useful for me, and hopefully others for me to record some thoughts each week on what has happened, in my world as a console gamer :). I'll aim to post this every week (time allowing) so that I can reflect on what the past 7 days has held for me. This will include summaries of discussions i've been involved in on the AVF as well as what i've been playing.

So it's currently Friday the 30th November and as I am not receiving any further games this week, it seems as good a time as any to post my views. :)

I must say that firstly it's a superb time to be a gamer on every platform at the moment. We have the amazing Super Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3 leading the way on the Wii, Uncharted: Drakes Fortune on the PS3 and the likes of Mass Effect & Halo 3 on the 360. There have been some superb cross platform releases, such as COD4, FIFA08 and The Orange Box and all in all it's happy days all round.

So firstly what has been my focus of attention gaming wise this week? Well without a shadow of a doubt it has been Mass Effect from the Bioware Corp (makers of the superb Knights of the Old Republic and Jade's Empire). Bioware are masters of the action/RPG genre and naturally there was a lot of expectation on Mass Effect to deliver and become one of (if not the) best game of the year! We've all been wowed by the cinematic video's prior to release and the news had been very favourable from the gaming press.

So has Bioware delivered again? In my opinion the answer is a resounding YES! I was slightly concerned (like many others) about some of the negative comments that came out in the week or two leading up to release, but I really shouldn't have been. Sure (like every other game release)this game is not perfect and there's the odd framerate stutter (usually after loading a new area) and some texture pop up (also after a new area has been loaded). To be honest though, this is very minor IMO and has been blown out of all proportion. I'll continue below without any spoilers :).

Leaving the negativity behind, what we have is probably the most engrossing and involving video game universe ever created. The characters are all believable and it takes minimal effort to become involved in their own lives and histories. Graphics help a lot as they are all beautifully realised and their parts are well acted, with great lipsynching. The game worlds are also extremely well designed and detailed, again sucking you into the the reality of the game and providing a level of escapism that very few games get close to. Sure some of the side missions may seem a bit too standard on the surface, but they all have their different stories behind them and it is the brilliant story telling that shines through and makes each one a unique encounter.

For me this game straddles the worlds of RPG and combat action better than any other game i've ever played and really keeps the best from each genre, whilst getting rid of any overly complex areas that simply bog the gamer down. It never feels simplistic though and there is still way more to this game in terms of complexity, than your average FPS etc. The AI works well and although the teammate commands are not perfect, your team mates are a great asset, rather than a liability as in so many other games. So far this week i've put in a good 25 hours into this title (over 2 games) and for me it's the 2nd best game released on all console formats this year. There's been some very tough competition - Bioshock, The Orange Box, FIFA08, Halo 3, Metroid Prime 3, Call of Duty 4 etc. but the only game that i'd place above it is Super Mario Galaxy.

Sadly the plumber has not seen any action this week, due to my Mass Effect exploits, but i'm just so wrapped up in ME's story that he's going to have to wait until i've finished my first play through of Bioware's space epic!

Forum wise there has been some lively discussion over which games have impressed and disappointed this year and it does seem that Halo 3 and PES08 are taking the brunt of people's disappointment. I think it was a given that Halo 3 would always score quite highly in lists of both people's most disappointing and favourite games (due to the fact that almost every 360 owner has probably bought a copy) and really the most disappointing release for me has been PES08. I guess that with it being cross platform this time, we would finally see a version of the game that would make use of the PS3 & 360's hardware, as well as move the genre forward. Instead we got a game that really added nothing new and didn't even function well, needing a patch straight away! :( In contrast the fantastic 5 v 5 mode on FIFA really did move the genre forward and if Konami want to remain a force in the football video game market, they will have to stop living on past glories and produce something amazing next time. PES09 will be the first PES game that I will not be pre-ordering and snapping up as soon as it's released.

So that is about it I guess, next week should see me play my first game of Durera's PES Association (against Magic Mike 83) and also next Friday I should be able to provide some of my early impressions of Uncharted:Drakes Fortune on the PS3. It's been well received from those who imported so whilst the demo left me feeling a little cold, i'm still looking forward to this release.

If you've read this far then thanks for reading and there will be more next week! ]]> CAS FAN http://www.avforums.com/forums/blogs/cas-fan-30204/131-week-life-console-gamer.html