A Gaming Diary
360
Bayonetta (360)
Feb 9th
It’s been too long. I’ve not played Bayonetta in a couple of weeks or so, but an hour spent with it last night reminded me of just how good it is.
I went through chapter six from beginning to end. I found huge monsters, protected an annoying child and didn’t have to sit through too many cut scenes. The flow of the combat is just right and even rubbish old me is able to build combos and feel like I’m actually fighting, not just mashing buttons.
I also can’t help be charmed by its silliness. I know some people have commented that they’re embarrassed to play it, because of the sexy cheese filling, but I have no such qualms.
Sexy Cheese Filling
It’s absurdly wonderful and a very, very special game indeed. I’m actually very glad that I can’t afford many console games these days, because there’s less chance of a game being left unplayed and I do want to give Bayonetta the time it deserves. I’ve only put in six hours so far and it’s not nearly enough.
(And, yes, I got another Stone medal at the end of the chapter – I’d managed to miss out one of the verses. Oh, and I died about a million times. Well, six or seven. Something like that.)
Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing Demo (360)
Feb 9th
It’s basically Sonic Kart, but with loads of Sega characters, from the iconic to the obscure, and a lovely drifting mechanic.
The framerate is horrible. Not ModNation horrible, but very bad indeed. They’ve said it’s early code and fixed in the final release, though, and I trust them.
I also think they probably should have had it set on the easier difficulty by default, because I didn’t come better than fourth in the five races I played.
Apart from those two points, though, I really, really liked it. It’s colourful, full of characters I either love outright or have a nostalgic affection for and the drifting is lovely. I had a horrible day yesterday – surprise root canal surgery! – and then the sunny Sonic Seganess of the game put a smile right back on my face before bed.
I’m almost certain I’ll buy it at launch after that, if I possibly can.
Still, though, it’s another weapon-based racer, so anyone annoyed with the whole “get hit by an item and go from third to eighth in the final lap” mechanic that all these games feature should probably steer clear. Good thing there’s a demo to help you decide, eh?
Aliens Vs Predator Demo (360)
Feb 5th
It’s a multiplayer demo of the much-anticipated new AvP FPS and, yes, I think it’s very good, but, yes, I’m in a match within a minute or so when I try to play, unlike the poor buggers trying to play on the PC or PS3.
I’ve not played as the Predator yet, but I’ve played two matches each as alien and marine.
Alien: Hugely confusing spatially, but fun as hell. I’ve hardly ever managed to sneak up behind someone to do the epic kill attack, but it’s very satisfying when I have done it. I also love using focus to leap at unsuspecting people from the ceiling. A lot of people don’t seem to know about blocking yet, which helped my scores. It really feels different from the usual stuff you play these days.
Marine: Much more familiar than the alien and a completely different experience. It’s scary as anything – yes, I have panicked and fired wildly at pipes in the ceiling. Several times. The motion tracker helps a lot both with playing the game and enhancing the atmosphere and when I see an alien tail or the Predator shimmer all thoughts of “short, controlled bursts” go right out of my head and I just hold the trigger down and hope I kill something before the clip runs out. Brilliant stuff.
Now, I’m not very good at these things, but here I was holding my own and coming half-way down the table as both the alien and the marine. I’m very much looking forward to getting the full game and playing something that’s not straight deathmatch, as I don’t think it’s going to be one of the game’s best modes.
I’m not sure when I’ll be able to get this, certainly not at launch, but I hope I’ll be able to buy a copy before the only people left playing are the hardcore players.
GTA IV: The Lost and Damned (360)
Jan 25th
Finally finished off The Lost and Damned yesterday, after taking a break of many months. I was right near the end, so it didn’t take long. The Diamonds In The Rough mission took a few goes, but it was pretty much plain sailing after that.
The game does seem increasingly unfriendly – lack of mission checkpoints, having to go home to save manually – but the driving model is still great, the shooting still weighty and explosive and Liberty City is still an amazing place to visit. The sheer detail of it all is staggering.
Anyway, now the way is clear for some Gay Tony action at some point.
Bayonetta (360)
Jan 20th
Last night I finished chapter five (using an invincibility item I’d made on the boss) and bought some perfume. I also got a new weapon, claws of some kind, that don’t seem especially useful. I think they’re slow, short-ranged, damaging weapons, but I’m more of a quick in-and-out player, so they don’t seem to suit my play style. Maybe I just need to practice with them more.
I also used my new 360 controller, which came as part of a bundle. It’s not as nice as my old controller, with horrible, rough seams where the two halves of the controller meet, but it seems okay.
Bayonetta (360)
Jan 19th
Utterly brilliant stuff, obviously. I even managed to work out USING MY OWN BRANE how to stay in the air for a minute to complete one of the mini challenges I’ve found littered about the place. I was very, very proud of that moment. It was just pure experimentation and it worked.
Now, though, I’m stuck on another mini challenge where I have to kill two big enemies with, I think, ten punches and seven kicks. That’s just not going to happen, I don’t think. I’ll try again a couple of times next time I play, but I think I’m going to have to leave it until I’m much, much better at the game.
In some sad news, though, Bayonetta broke my thumbstick last night. I was playing the game and a chunk came off the the left stick on my controller.
Luckily I’ve got a spare, but that controller has been with me through thick and thin for many years. (As you can tell from the dust and dirt built up on it.) Still, it’s not completely unusable now, just a bit annoying. It can be a guest controller, I’m not going to throw it out.
Bayonetta (360)
Jan 18th
Up to chapter five now. This is blooming marvellous. I’m still getting stone trophies at the end of chapters, but so are all my friends – and I’m holding my own in the combo leaderboards now. So I’m not missing anything, I’m just not brilliant at the game yet. That’s okay, though. While I’m dying a lot, I’m not actually getting stuck. Even the big boss battle that was chapter four had multiple checkpoints in it.
Bayonetta’s a more friendly game that I expected, it actually seems to want you to play it. A lot of games, especially of this type, seem more like tests of skill that you have to endure to prove that you’re worthy, Bayonetta just lets you play. It doesn’t make things especially easy, but it does at least recognise that not all of us have lightning fingers and superhuman reaction times.
I love it. A lot.
Serious Sam HD Demo (360)
Jan 15th
Serious Sam is an excellent game. I’ve not played it in years – I’ve been keeping this blog since late 2005 and it’s never been mentioned before – but I still remember all the different enemies. The levels I don’t remember so well, but who can forget the screams of the suicide bombers as they rush towards you?
Playing through this demo was a pure nostalgic rush, basically. It’s my type of shooter. Instead of long cutscenes you get optional text pages to read and while there may be the odd switch to pull, generally you’re just running around large rooms shooting things until they explode. This is a very good thing.
When I get some spare money I’m going to buy some points and I’m going to buy Trials HD and Serious Sam. Yes I am.
Bayonetta (360)
Jan 13th
Got a whole hour with this last night. The luxury! Still a few too many cut scenes, really, but it’s calmed right down now and I am loving it, absolutely loving it. It’s silky smooth and funny and exciting and satisfying and it just hits all the right gameplay notes for me.
I fear I’m missing something, though, because I checked my friends leaderboard for the prologue and I did well in terms of time, but was bottom by a long, long way when it came to my combo points. Hmm. I’ll have to see how I do at the end of chapter one.
I have a feeling that this game will really start to shine in a second play-through, when I’ve got myself properly set up, know what I’m doing and can skip those cut scenes without worrying I’m going to miss something important.
Bayonetta (360)
Jan 12th
Only had half an hour to play this last night.
(The first part of the evening was taken up by Mystic River, which is a fine movie but not close to the brilliance of the book, and then the first two episodes of Glee were on E4. I’m very much looking forward to seeing more.)
Of the half hour I got to spend with Bayonetta, I’d guess that twenty minutes was cut scenes and about ten minutes was gameplay. Though that feels overly generous – it certainly felt like I hardly got to touch the pad. Oh well, hopefully I’ll actually get to play it more tonight.
