I didn’t stop playing now the story’s over, though. I dealt some more drugs – finally getting rid of one hundred ecstasy tablets I’d had for several days. Then I found the car dealership again and bought myself a tank and went on a fairly short rampage in it. Got a six star wanted level for the first time. I didn’t survive, but dying’s no real problem. (It’s getting Busted that hurts, as you lose all your drugs and weapons.) I’ve done about a third of the stunt jumps now, so lots more to find. I’ve hardly touched the ambulance and taxi missions. And I got attacked by a tooled-up gang of prostitutes who had finally had enough of being killed for their money after providing their services. All very meta.

A truly excellent game and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the seventeen hours or so I’ve put in. I just wish there was even more, despite it being one of the most generous games on the DS.

Anyway, the game took me a little over eight hours to finish and I died 192 times along the way. Which meant that I died, on average, every two and a half minutes. That does sound like a lot, but the game didn’t feel too hard or unfair – except for the one spot I mentioned yesterday, which my wife says took me a lot more than ten minutes to get through. (And if an unfair spot can make half an hour seem like ten minutes, it can’t be so bad.)

Overall thoughts now I’ve finished? Well, it’s brilliant. It’s fun, exciting, tense, cathartic, violent, messy and rewarding. The default difficulty is just right, with no real sticking points or frustrations – but it’s no cakewalk, either. Seems to be perfectly balanced for me.

Now I need to try the multiplayer and then I guess I’ll write up a full review for UpToJump.

To explain why, or really say anything about the game would spoil it. Go in knowing nothing, come out two or three hours later with a special feeling. I don’t want to go all Eurogamer on you and say that it’s going to make you examine your life or anything, but, bugger it, it just might. Only for a few minutes, nothing lasting, but that’s pretty amazing for a video game. And if it doesn’t, well, you’ll have spent six quid on a game that’s great fun and does something different in a way that Braid and Deadly “Ooh I’m a spider!” Creatures don’t.

I suppose, in a way it’s a role playing game that gives you a unique role to play.

But I’ve said enough.

Spent two or three hours this morning polishing off the single player campaign. Good stuff, when you remember that you’ve got to keep pushing ahead.

I’m not sure I’ll ever want to play it again, though, and I never play online any more, so this may be trade fodder now.

Very good game indeed, spoiled somewhat by a terrible last hour or two. Really, it’s awful. Forced fight after forced fight, with no opportunity to do any of the cool stuff you’ve spent the whole game learning.

And the story doesn’t actually end. Or, indeed, stop. You’re just left hanging.

Good game, terrible ending.

The Hero of Skill – You were there when the Hero of Skill was recruited. The Hero of Skill isn’t very heroic, but he is voiced by Stephen Fry, so I think I can forgive him.

The Family – The Needs of The Few’ has condemned thousands to death so that loved ones might live. As a good hero, I probably should have chosen to restore the lives of all those who had died during The Spire’s construction, but, well, I couldn’t leave my dog dead. Rufus was my friend and constant companion on the journey, I couldn’t leave him behind.

I did, however, start a new game once I’d finished, which means I’ll never see Rufus again. But the story ended with the hero triumphant and his faithful dog by his side. I can live with that. I’ve now started a new game as an evil character. I scare people, kick chickens, assassinate people, all that. I’ll probably just rush through this game, seeing what differences there are when you choose to be a bad guy.

The game gets buggier and buggier the further in you get, culminating in the final QTE-filled climax to the game not displaying properly, leaving me to watch to some rotating polygons and button prompts while trying to work out what was going on from the speech and sound effects.

How on earth you can program a game where the camera goes wrong during a cut scene I don’t know, but it happened.

I think a helicopter was meant to take off, or something, based on the “We’re going to crash!” dialogue, but all I could see throughout the entire thing were some bits of helicopter back and tail sitting on the ground. After the Mission Complete message came up my character magically appeared a few feet away from where he’d been standing before the scene began.

It’s a insult to peple who paid forty quid for the game it and should never, ever have been let out of the door in the state it’s in.

Yet I still love it to death, despite myself.

Bit buggy, but generally solid. Lots of stormtroopers to kill. No complaints here. (Apart from having to play the PS3 version because the 360 version was out of stock. Still, I assume they’re pretty much the same.)