What Did You Play Today?

[The Dork Knight]

Rock Band then Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga

[BlackFlagg]

Assassins Creed

[AJ]

Did a bit of my season on FIFA 08, a bit of my season on NBA 2K8, also played the Kane and Lynch demo, Burnout demo and some split screen 4-way COD4.

Yes, the novelty of owning a PS3 will wear off eventually, but not today.

The thing I'm most stoked about is figuring out how to do do mega combos on Tony Hawk's Project 8 and completing the Classic 2 minute run on the first level and getting the Sick level score.

[Mike Widdows]

Fifa 08 mostly and Smackdown Vs Raw 2008

[Docpepper]

FPR for the past 3 days

[Devlyn Michaels]

Konami Arcade Clasics for the DS.

Guitar Hero 3 for the PS3.

[EddieRuckus]

Played against my girlfriend's brother in a game of Madden 08. He was the Patriots, and I was the Seahawks.

Final score? 97-85 or 86 or something like that. With me winning of course. Hehe.

[h0mic^_]

I bought the Super Mario Galaxy game yesterday and it's really good game. I find all these nostalgy things pretty cool. The graphics are good, it's easy to control Mario and the missions are just nice.

[andrethegiantstopfan]

I fired up Doom Collector's Edition and played through 'Knee Deep in the Dead'. Going through it relatively easily on hurt me plenty, then Phobos Anomaly . Those two Barons of Hell in those chambers made me jump - and quickly put me out of my misery. I showed them who was boss in the second go though, although the Spectres did help a tad.

Episode 2 Level 8 - Tower of Babel was the time when I hastily QUIT the game after 10 goes against the Cyberdemon was 0-10. I was just wandering around looking for it then I almost walked right into the blasted thing

[Pepsi]

I just beat Call of Duty 4 on my 360. That was awesome! When Gaz slid me the gun I just about screamed!

[BlackFlagg]

Dead Rising

[figos]

Naruto Way of the ninja 2

[EddieRuckus]

Madden 08 with the "Vipers" Franchise, and I must say, doing fantasy draft, having Vince Young and a decent line with a monster left side(Hutchinson and Samuels) is wicked fun. I just traded for Moss and damn, if the scores aren't lopsided.

Hopefully will get some Call of Duty action going on as well later.

[andrethegiantstopfan]

Sonic and Knuckles on Sonic Mega Collection PLUS.

It's amazing how many people my age don't even know what a Mega Drive is, let alone appreciate the brilliance of the initial Sonic series.

[cram]

Just finished Mario Galaxy today...well...Finished Super Mario Galaxy, not Super Luigi Galaxy. I'm only half way done.

[-A-]

I powered through Half-Life 2 after borrowing the Orange Box from a friend to play Team Fortress. I HATE it, I really do - passionately. It prompted more rage and stress in me than any non-shit game ever has with its ultra-linearity and lack of any kind of atmosphere. The endless single-solution puzzles and afterthought combat make the game seem like the physics toy that it is, the 3D version of some internet flash game or a terrible, terrible point-and-click adventure. If it felt like a goodpoint-and-click I'd enjoy it, but there's no satisfaction from solving any of the simple puzzles and no replay value as far as I can see. By making the entire game based around the inexplicable number of mechanical trials, any sense of the grander scheme of things, the struggle to save the human race, the race to rescue Eli Vance, whatever, is completely lost. Is the saviour of humanity really spending half an hour moving one board from behind to front, stepping onto it and repeating the process? Ugh, just one of the endless, tedious sections with no sense of reward. There were far too many instant death moments that reminded me of platform games and too many sections where I felt compelled to reload simply because I'd lost 35 health and couldn't be sure where the next health pack was coming from. The fact that the game features endless loading screens anyway adds to the stop-start nature of the game, but can be forgiven because of the pretty environments, but combined with the frequent instant-deaths and necessity to complete certain sections without flaw makes the flow of the game completely ruined.

Everything about the game screams that it's a game and ruins any immersion or atmosphere, from the endless obstruction puzzles (featuring improbable artificial barriers) to the tired, tired dialogue ("I just wish I could share your confidence, Gordon...") Characters like Barney and Alyx have some kind of prescience that allows them to accompany you when they're needed to perform tasks that you'd be unable to do and then disappear during any extended combat encounter. Despite the fact that the game prides itself on some kind of realism when it comes to physics - using heavy objects to weigh down one end of a ramp - the very next moment you're unable to climb over a fence or stack of cars that a child could scale, or unable to break a window to advance. During the interminable sections where you're accompanied by other freedom fighters (particularly when fighting striders) I was literally screaming at the screen as the cretins blocked my path at every turn and led me to instant death - I'm firmly of the opinion that games need to allow you to kill non-essential companions if you want to. It doesn't matter if it makes the game harder, I should choose whether to face the challenge of over-stacked odds or face the challenge of dealing with useless mannequins who cavort around in close quarters and get in my way. If you're playing on Hard difficulty anyway the fucking morons are more likely to block you for the split-second that kills you than help you in any real way. Added to which, I needed the release of punishing the robotic, useless cunts.

Even the characters in the game are completely lacking. Alyx, though very hot, has a bit of the slapper to her and there's no sense of any romance between her and Gordon to justify her over-acted flirting. Eli's relationship with Alyx consists of ridiculously familiar Worried Father/Headstrong Daughter with literally nothing else. Breen comes across as a staple 'intellectual' bad guy with nonsensical, clichéd and unexplained lines - 'you've destroyed so much, but can you say that you've created anything?' There's a total lack of G-Man, the best part of the first game and the promise of whom led me to keep playing. Aside from token speeches bookending the game and the usual fleeting glimpses in-game, he serves no storyline purpose which establishes him as nothing more than a plot device to explain the gap between the first and second games, which was incredibly disappointing.

Argh, I need to stop even thinking about this game because it wasn't disappointing, it made me genuinely angry and I can't be arsed mulling over it any more. It pushed more of my buttons as well that I can't put any kind of objective spin on - like when FPS games put extended driving sections in. I HATE driving games, I don't want to spend an hour or more skidding around inside any kind of vehicle, it's not remotely my idea of fun and it's not what I expected from Half-Life. My friend told me that a large portion of Episode 1 is exactly the same and you only have the Gravity Gun, so I'm giving up on the entire series anyway. I haven't been as disappointed by any kind of entertainment since the third Matrix film.

[GoGo Yubari]

WreSpri2. It alternates between being somewhat fun to being insanely frustrating depending on the day and my mood. FUCK YOU, DONNIE J., QUIT COUNTERING EVERYTHING.

[BlackFlagg]

Rock Band

[Toe]

Army Of Two.

It's pretty cool, great to play with a friend. The gameplay is a bit like Gears of War, but that is a good thing.

[alldaws1]

Madden NFL 08. Possibly for the last time since it's giving me the 'this disk is unreadable' message. The disc is in bad, bad shape though. Hopefully I can pick up Army of Two and Rainbow Six Vegas 2 this month to help numb the pain ='(