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A Gaming Diary
World of Warcraft (PC/Mac)
Jun 2nd
Picked up a load of quests, delivered some meat, destroyed a fire altar with a stone and ran all the way to Thunderbluff from The Crossroads to see if the trainer there could get my staff skill about sixty. Which they couldn’t. Still, it was a nice run and I only killed once by loading pauses.
World of Warcraft (PC/Mac)
Jun 2nd
I’ve been playing a fair bit of this over the last week. My old account is tied to an inactive email address and the requirements for changing it are silly, so I started a new account, which meant I could download the trial and play for free. Hooray!
Much as I wanted to see some new stuff I couldn’t bring myself to play as the Alliance – I just can’t, they’re the enemy! – so I played three new Horde characters. An orc warrior, who I got up to level ten before deciding that warriors are quite astoundingly boring to play, an orc warlock, who’s up to level eleven and is now my main character, and an undead mage, who I started simply because the game was crashing when I tried to play as either of my other characters. I played him for a short while, then tried my warlock again, who loaded without a hitch. (Seems like the trial has big problems with its dynamic loading system when you zeppelin across to a new area.)
I had a lot of trouble doing my voidwalker quest solo – going up against loads of opponents with voidwalkers when you don’t have one is tough – but my Fear and Curse of Agony spells got me through in the end. Now I’ve been sent to The Crossroads, where there seem to be about a billion quests waiting for me to do.
Which is nice.
Rock Band (360)
Jun 2nd
I finally started up a console after a long break and decided to play some Rock Band solo.
Except after about three songs my back was hurting enough to make me stop. D’oh.
Still, it was fun for a while.
Rock Band (360)
May 27th
Yesterday I decided to practice guitar playing on Medium in the solo tour. It’s mostly very easy, but getting harder. The chorus of Celebrity Skin is beyond me right now. Lots of reds, yellows and blues in a confusing pattern.
Still, I’ve not failed a song yet. Hopefully my skills will have improved enough to get through Enter Sandman by the time I reach it.
Rock Band (360)
May 24th
I was playing guitar on Easy, but we got the maximum fans for that level, so I thought I’d step up to Medium.
That was fine for a few songs, but then we got to Enter Sandman, which I just can’t do. And my wife can’t save me because I die minutes before the vocals start.
Ugh.
Rock Band (360)
May 23rd
Oh man.
Traded some stuff in for this today and when I got home my wife and I set up a band with me on guitar and her on vocals and started playing our World Tour.
It’s awesome stuff. I’ve been really enjoying it and so has she, except for the time a 2-song random set list threw up a French song followed by a German song.
I enjoyed them both immensely.
HEIR! KOMMT! ALEX!
It’s brilliant. It’s the Singstar/Guitar Hero combination we’ve always dreamed of.
Top Trumps: Doctor Who (DS)
May 22nd
Oh, how I sneered when this was announced! A cheap, lazy cash in that only children, idiots and the kind of fans who grab any old tat with a Dalek sticker on it would buy! Haw haw haw!
My wife, however, insisted we get it. And, as I’m also a Doctor Who fan who’ll grab any old tat with a Dalek sticker on it, I needed only minimal persuasion.
You want to know the shocking truth?
It’s actually really good fun. I went to bed late last night because we were playing so much multiplayer. (It only needs a single cart to play two player games, excellently.) There is a classic Top Trumps mode, but it’s not nearly as fun as using Adventure rules, where you get special powers to use, which really spice up the game. Turns Top Trumps from a “timewaster” game into “must… play… more…” game.
So, that’s me told.
Is it worth £20 more than a pack of cards, though? Well, I’ve not really investigated single player, but from my wife’s progress it seems to be addictive but short. The multiplayer is certainly far more fun than just a deck of cards. However, there only seems to be one deck in the game. It’s a very good deck and much more balanced than some other Top Trumps decks (the Angel one springs to mind as being completely unplayable), but for the money I’d expect at least three or four decks to choose from. It really does seem like a wasted opportunity in that respect.
So, yes, it’s far more fun than I ever expected it to be, but twenty-five quid is a little off. At a tenner, though, it would be great value for any Doctor-loving household with a couple of DS consoles.
The Simpsons Game (360)
May 22nd
I went back to this last night and I’m very glad that I did.
The bit I’d got stuck on was only a problem because I’d forgotten one of Bart’s moves. Once I remembered it the puzzle was very easy indeed.
I played quite a few levels after that. The gameplay quality varied from “rather good” to “average bordering on annoying”, but I didn’t get stuck for long on anything. The quality of the script is what carries the game, though. It’s The Simpsons doing games, like the Halloween episodes are The Simpsons doing horror. Will Wright’s appearance is absolute genius and generated actual, real laughter.
I’m wondering how long it takes people who haven’t played Joust to work out how to pass the homage to the game on the Neverquest level, though?
I’m hoping to get a good, long session tonight to finish it off, ready for trade. Not a keeper, but I’m very glad I played it.
Haze Demo (PS3)
May 18th
When it comes to first person shooters I’m easily pleased, but Haze has slightly off controls, terrible dialogue and when I fell backwards off a cliff I couldn’t be bothered to continue.
I actually quite enjoyed it in a lot of ways and I liked the Nectar stuff, but overall it’s a miss so far. I have a feeling I might like the full game more.
The Simpsons Game (360)
May 18th
Fairy enjoyable until I got to a part where I kept falling off a climbing section and had to start over. Finally got to the end and couldn’t see what to do, so turned the game off in frustration.
That might be it for the game now, if I use it as trade-in fodder on Friday.
