A Gaming Diary
Archive for December, 2008
GTI Club+ (PS3)
Dec 8th
It’s fun, but I don’t love it as much as I expected to. Possibly because the handling hasn’t quite clicked yet. I get it and I’m doing handbrake turns all over the place, but I can’t quite feel it in the same way I feel the cars in OutRun 2006 or Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. I just don’t feel as connected. And I hit the edges of the road and come to a full stop far too often. Which is my fault, obviously, but adds some frustration.
And it could really do with more races. With the multiple routes through the city it should be easy to add a whole host of new events that take you down specific routes. As it is, after the Easy course is over, Medium and Hard levels just open up the whole city and let you get on with it. I haven’t won a race on Hard yet, but once I do I’m worried I won’t feel the need to go back and improve things.
Still, it’s lovely to have pure arcade racing with blue skies and small cars sitting on my hard drive. Maybe I shouldn’t be hammering this to death. Maybe I should just do a race or two every few days
Animal Crossing: Let’s Go To The City (Wii)
Dec 8th
This is the first Animal Crossing where my wife and I will share a town. We named it McNulty, in honour of hapless Jimmy McNulty, one of the main characters in The Wire. (Which, incidentally, is the best TV show of all time, no arguments.)
She moved in first, did all the Nook jobs and poked around. Then I started, did the same jobs again, then popped over to the city. It’s nice to see the animals milling around the main square. We saw some old friends like Rasher, Dotty and Wart Jr. Gracie’s is terribly expensive, but after some fishing I managed to buy my wife and excellent hat.
Anyway, it’s rather like the upgrade from the Gamecube version to the DS version. At first it appears very similar indeed, but has a host of small changes that only people who played wild World to death will notice. Outside the obvious addition of the city, there are styles of housing, new items, more context-sensitive animal chat, a new event day this weekend, you can now arrange visits to animal houses, etc.
It’s quite a clever upgrade, really. It feels similar enough to be comforting, but with enough little new things sprinkled about to add a feeling of excitement. And, on Nintendo’s side, it’s a heck of a lot cheaper and easier than developing a new game.
One for newbies and hardcore fans, then. The vast mass of more casual Wild World players, or those that played it for a while then got tired, won’t find much here for them, I don’t think.
Little Big Planet (PS3)
Dec 4th
You’ve got to love the PS3. I got Little Big Planet as an early Christmas present and rushed home giddy with excitement. I tidied up the bedroom, made dinner, did the washing up and then was ready to play the game. I believe I even clapped my hands in childish glee as the PS3 sucked in the disc.
And then there was a required update to the game, which took twenty minutes to download and install. And then, before I could get online, I had to update the PS3 system software, which took a further fifteen minutes.
That can’t be right, can it? We’re not really going to put up with this crap, are we?
Yes. We are. We’ll put up with it because, well, we don’t have much choice.
And also because, when you get something like Little Big Planet, it’s worth it.
If you boil Little Big Planet down to core gameplay it’s a 2D platformer. Physics-based, like a lot of stuff is these days. But it’s the most charming, lovely, happy game I’ve played in ages. The Sackboys are wonderful creations, full of personality. Stephen Fry’s voiceover is a like a warm, fuzzy hug. The music is happy, jolly loveliness. The world looks almost photorealistic (if you had a rubbish camera) yet unreal and videogamey to the max. Just jumping around randomly is a joy. It’s full of secrets and stickers to find away from the main paths through the levels. It’s one of those games that makes you smile and laugh in delight. It’s one of those games that has your wife begging to play. It’s one of those games.
And it’s true to its roots, being very frustrating at times. Some jumps are very difficult. It’s possible to mess around enough to break puzzles and have to leave the level and come back. And stuff my wife collected with me in co-op disappeared from her collection. But, hey, it’s a game. Maybe one day I shall be back expressing a hate and loathing for the game as I fail to complete a late level for the fiftieth time. But I don’t think I’ll fall out of love for long.
And if the pre-made levels get frustrating, there a million others out there. I tried out a level called Castling made by someone on the rllmuk forum and it was wonderful. I was in awe of the fact that somebody had made it at home. It was tricky and I failed to finish it before bed time, but I’ve hearted it and will play it again later.
And, by the way, my Sackboy is currently and Elizabethan astronaut.
Asphalt 4: Elite Racing (iPod)
Dec 3rd
Haven’t played this much. Just a few quick races. Initial impressions suggest, however, that this is the worst thing you could possibly ever spend £3.99 on. I never felt in control at all – using click wheel and accelerometer controls – and yet won every race. And it’s horrifically ugly.
Further impressions will follow when I can suppress my gag reflex long enough to play…
Okay, I’ve played some more.
It is utterly terrible. I settled on the seemingly random tilt controls and I managed to complete 15% of the Career in about ten minutes. It borrows liberally from modern EA racing games – there’s customisation, illegal street racing, takedowns and, er, girls to call.
There are no redeeming features whatsoever, unless you count simply it being a 3D game on an iPod Nano as something to be applauded. And if you’re one of those people, then you’re an idiot.
Rubbish.
Trouble is, though, that I can see myself playing it quite a lot despite everything. I want to be back playing it right now.
If I work out why, I’ll let you know.
Pinball FX (360)
Dec 3rd
Haven’t played this in ages, but the urge took me last night. Played the Buccaneer table for a bit, then downloaded the Street Fighter 2 table, which is a lot less busy. Disappointing at first, but I soon found myself enjoying it. One day I’ll actually work out how these tables work, instead of just throwing the balls at targets and ramps that look interesting.
And how comes sometimes lights stay on between balls and sometimes they don’t?
Fracture Demo (360)
Dec 3rd
Looks nice, in that standard shiny HD way that’s everywhere these days. Controls work. Is reasonably fun to play. I enjoyed raising and lowering terrain. Didn’t so much enjoy having to fire six hundred bullets from a pea shooter at every enemy.
Seems utterly average, really, but not in an especially bad way. If a copy landed in my 360 I think I’d have fun playing it, but I don’t think I’m going go out and get a copy, unless I see it for £4.97 or something.
Football Manager Handheld 2009 (PSP)
Dec 2nd
Been away for a couple days for a funeral. Fair amount of PSP time. We won the league and got promoted to League Two. Over the summer most of my good players got poached again, leaving me with no players who could play on the right of midfield. I had to spend too much on rubbish-looking players just to fill gaps, but we won our first game of the season. Just.
