A Gaming Diary
PS3
Pain (PS3)
Mar 22nd
Nothing to it, really. A single level with a few target variations. You fire your character into scaffolding, walls and exploding crates and that’s about it.
It really, really needs more levels. Feels more like a demo than a game right now.
Able to eat a surpisingly large amount of time, though.
MLB 08: The Show (PS3)
Mar 9th
Started a Road to the Show game. The player I made looks nothing like me, but that’s okay. It’s all very similar to the PSP game, but with extra shiny. After a few games I decided to play some team stuff, so started a season as the Astros. Didn’t even finish the first game of spring training, but at least I could save it.
Railfan (PS3)
Feb 26th
I’ve now done all the Chicago missions. After the first seven short training missions, the final mission was an hour-long journey across Chicago. It was quite hard and I failed quite a few times, but luckily it just dumps you back at the last station you stopped at when that happens.
Really was very good fun, but I was exhausted at the end of it. I never realised being a real driver was so difficult. Trying to stick to all the different speed limits, stop in the right place at the station and keep on time requires a fair amount of skill.
Railfan (PS3)
Feb 24th
This train simulator has been sitting on my shelf for many, many months.
My wife was asleep, so I thought it might be safe to play it. As soon as I put the disc in the drive she woke, came downstairs and laughed at me. I can’t say I didn’t deserve it.
Anyway, despite having controls that consist of a whole two – count ‘em! – buttons, this has actually been very good fun so far. Mainly, I think, because the instructions for each mission are in Japanese, turning even the easiest training mission into an intriguing puzzle.
There’s something very compulsive about it.
Riff: Everyday Shooter (PS3)
Feb 24th
Why is everything a twin stick shooter these days?
Anyway, this is Rez meets Geometry Wars, if you want a lazy comparison. Hampered slightly by only having eight-way shot control, but good fun.
Hot Shots Golf World Tour Demo (PS3)
Feb 24th
Hooray, an English-language demo! Now I can read the instructions for the new shot system. It’s actually very obvious and works very well.
I think I may need this game. I really don’t want to, but I do.
MLB 08: The Show Demos (PS3 & PSP)
Feb 24th
Both seem to play a decent game of baseball, but the PS3 version also has gorgeous graphics and presentation. Really very good stuff.
Devil May Cry 4 Demo (PS3)
Jan 25th
Downloaded this on the PS3 rather than the 360 due to 360 users complaining about the controls. It’s okay to have to use R1 a lot on the PS3 pad, but having RB on the 360 pad as a main button sounds awful. It’s not often that the PS3 wins out in terms of controls, but here’s a rare case.
Anyway, there are two modes. The first is a big chunk of a level, which gives you ten minutes to run around killing things and solving basic puzzles. Actually, that’s a bit too kind. It’s less puzzle solving and more just pressing X when you reach a dead end. The combat, however, is great. You’ve got three different attack buttons and everything you do just looks and feels very cool indeed. (Except when you idiotically try to use melee attacks on enemies several yards away, as I was doing far too often.) Top stuff, even with the millions of tiny cut scenes taking control away from you before and after every encounter.
The second mode gives you a boss fight… apparently. I didn’t manage to make it past some underlings before I even got that far. They kept freezing me and doing far more damage than the pathetic enemies in other part of the demo. I’ll probably try again. Boss difficulty will make the difference between “budget buy” and “avoid forever” on this one.
