An oldie, but a goodie (x2). Just thought I’d share two Winning Eleven/Pro Evolution Soccer montages I made many, many years ago when Winning Eleven was king. The resolution may be a bit grainy but it was the early 2000s and capture equipment wasn’t that great. Oh, the days of importing Japanese football games and the PS2 ‘swap trick’!
Hope you enjoy them!
Lavan
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
GTA: Vice City – Amazing....but still not as good as San Andreas
I posted just over a month ago that I was going through Grand Theft Auto: Vice City for the second time (on the PC) as it was the only GTA game that I hadn’t completed multiple times and didn’t have that fond memories for. As I stated in my post, one of the reasons I didn’t dig it that much the first time around was that I was playing it during a particularly rough time in my personal life. No such problems this time and I have to say I enjoyed the hell out of it. Including side missions Steam had me clocked in at 18 hours to complete it. All the positives I mentioned previously (mission variation, the environments, the art/aesthetic) still hold but I think I understated just how fucking incredible the soundtrack is. Even half-way through the game I was still hearing songs I hadn’t yet heard or had forgot were on the soundtrack, and unlike many other similar open world games (True Crime, Saints Row, other GTAs), there wasn’t a single station that I disliked. Much like the music in San Andreas, the tunes in Vice City really solidify the time period in your mind. Incredible stuff.
I also really enjoyed some of the later missions especially the mission entitled G-Spotlight (see below) where you have to ride a motorcycle through and across buildings.
But, despite having a hell of a time, I still think it ranks well behind GTA IV, The Lost and Damned, Ballad of Gay Tony, and San Andreas because of the narrative and in particular, the massive gap in the story towards the end of the game. Like every other modern GTA game you progress through the main narrative mission by mission. Vice City differs slightly in that there is a point in the story where the primary narrative comes to a dead stop and you’re not able to progress until you complete a set number of side mission threads. While these threads are entertaining (the G-Spotlight mission is in the Candy Suxx side mission thread) they don’t really add much to the major narrative and it takes a good 4-5 hours to finish these before the main narrative re-starts. By that time all story momentum has been lost and the resumption of the main narrative thread just consists of two missions (a very short penultimate mission and an incredibly annoying Scarface-Say-Hello-To-My-Little-Friend inspired final mission) and then you’re done. The big surprise/twist is that your buddy Lance Vance has sold you out but the emotional impact of that is lost because you haven’t seen the guy for the past 5 hours and he’s also a bit of a dick anyway.
It’s all a bit of a disappointment.
GTA IV definitely has it’s issues as I feel the narrative goes on for a few hours too long in the final third but it picks up momentum with the ‘Mr and Mrs Bellic” mission where either your cousin Roman gets gunned down on his wedding day or his bride does. This kicks things up into high gear for the finishing straight and you have a much greater attachment to Roman than you do to Lance.
I felt the narratives in both TLAD and BOGT were paced excellently and I loved everything about San Andreas.
Still, despite my gripes, I enjoyed the hell out of Vice City and I definitely think it's worth another play through if you haven't visited the city in a while.
Lavan
I also really enjoyed some of the later missions especially the mission entitled G-Spotlight (see below) where you have to ride a motorcycle through and across buildings.
But, despite having a hell of a time, I still think it ranks well behind GTA IV, The Lost and Damned, Ballad of Gay Tony, and San Andreas because of the narrative and in particular, the massive gap in the story towards the end of the game. Like every other modern GTA game you progress through the main narrative mission by mission. Vice City differs slightly in that there is a point in the story where the primary narrative comes to a dead stop and you’re not able to progress until you complete a set number of side mission threads. While these threads are entertaining (the G-Spotlight mission is in the Candy Suxx side mission thread) they don’t really add much to the major narrative and it takes a good 4-5 hours to finish these before the main narrative re-starts. By that time all story momentum has been lost and the resumption of the main narrative thread just consists of two missions (a very short penultimate mission and an incredibly annoying Scarface-Say-Hello-To-My-Little-Friend inspired final mission) and then you’re done. The big surprise/twist is that your buddy Lance Vance has sold you out but the emotional impact of that is lost because you haven’t seen the guy for the past 5 hours and he’s also a bit of a dick anyway.
It’s all a bit of a disappointment.
GTA IV definitely has it’s issues as I feel the narrative goes on for a few hours too long in the final third but it picks up momentum with the ‘Mr and Mrs Bellic” mission where either your cousin Roman gets gunned down on his wedding day or his bride does. This kicks things up into high gear for the finishing straight and you have a much greater attachment to Roman than you do to Lance.
I felt the narratives in both TLAD and BOGT were paced excellently and I loved everything about San Andreas.
Still, despite my gripes, I enjoyed the hell out of Vice City and I definitely think it's worth another play through if you haven't visited the city in a while.
Lavan
Dead End Thrills
Quick note about an incredible website I stumbled upon - Dead End Thrills - a website made by games journalist Duncan Harris. The website consists of his ever-growing portfolio of absolutely stunning videogame photography – basically he captures incredible, jaw-dropping screenshots of videogames. The images aren’t just incredible because of the graphical fidelity and the visual tweaks he’s made to them, they’re special because of the moments he’s captured. Check out the link and if you don’t find your next desktop wallpaper there then there’s something wrong with you!
Lavan
Lavan
Friday, December 2, 2011
Sideway: New York
As we move into the busy season of gaming I’ve also been super busy with work. Fortunately, I've managed to steer clear of the behemoth Skyrim – not because I’m not interested in it, on the contrary, it's because I’m fairly certain that’s all I’d play for the next 2 months at the expense of all the other great games coming out right now!
What I have been playing is a nice mix of some old school games, some mainstream newer stuff and a few neat independent gaming titles, one of which is a very neat side-scrolling platformer named Sideway: New York for the PC.
I picked up Sideway off Steam after really being struck by the graffiti-inspired art style. You play the game as ‘Nox’ a graffiti artist who has been turned into a piece of 2D graffiti by his nemesis and it’s your job to work your way through New York to rescue your friends. Developer Playbrain markets the game as a ‘2D Platformer in a 3D World’ and while that seems like an odd slogan it actually describes it perfectly. The environments are all 3D areas but since you’re a 2D sprite/piece of graffiti you can only get around the environment by moving along the flat surfaces. The entire conceit has mostly aesthetic ramifications rather than gameplay ones but it’s enjoyable nonetheless.
The controls are snappy and along with the usually 2D platforming tropes such as jumping attacks you can also do spray-attacks, kicks and also use your spray can to draw-in new platforms (but only in certain designated areas). It’s definitely not going to challenge the likes of the 2D Mario games but I found it a lot of fun and at only $10 it’s worth checking out for the art-style alone. You can download the Sideway: New York demo on Steam and the Playstation Network.
Lavan
What I have been playing is a nice mix of some old school games, some mainstream newer stuff and a few neat independent gaming titles, one of which is a very neat side-scrolling platformer named Sideway: New York for the PC.
I picked up Sideway off Steam after really being struck by the graffiti-inspired art style. You play the game as ‘Nox’ a graffiti artist who has been turned into a piece of 2D graffiti by his nemesis and it’s your job to work your way through New York to rescue your friends. Developer Playbrain markets the game as a ‘2D Platformer in a 3D World’ and while that seems like an odd slogan it actually describes it perfectly. The environments are all 3D areas but since you’re a 2D sprite/piece of graffiti you can only get around the environment by moving along the flat surfaces. The entire conceit has mostly aesthetic ramifications rather than gameplay ones but it’s enjoyable nonetheless.
The controls are snappy and along with the usually 2D platforming tropes such as jumping attacks you can also do spray-attacks, kicks and also use your spray can to draw-in new platforms (but only in certain designated areas). It’s definitely not going to challenge the likes of the 2D Mario games but I found it a lot of fun and at only $10 it’s worth checking out for the art-style alone. You can download the Sideway: New York demo on Steam and the Playstation Network.
Lavan
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Kudos for Auntie Poulet
The past few days since I`ve got back from Chicago have seen some retro gaming with Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (PC) and Metropolis Street Racer (Dreamcast). Of course, it almost goes without saying that both of those were sandwiched between some mandatory Battlefield 3 on the PC.
Vice City remains the only Grand Theft Auto game since GTA 2 that I haven’t finished more than once and, truth be told, it was because I didn’t seem to enjoy it as much as GTA 3, San Andreas or IV. Playing it a second time though made me realize my lack of fond memories weren’t a result of the result of the game itself but moreso the time in my life I was playing the game. I remember getting the game during my miserable first year of medical school where everything felt like a slog so I’m not surprised that the game felt like a bit of a chore as well.
Playing it now, 9 years after release, I’m actually having an absolute blast despite the clearly antiquated game mechanics. The cast of characters is hilarious with my favourite being the leader of the Haitain gang; Auntie Poulet. The missions are a ton of fun and I love that you can use the sandbox nature of the game world to help you. For example, in a mission named Naval Engagement you have to break up a drug deal taking place between the Haitains. You can check out the video below – you have to approach their mansion by water, take to the shore, steal the briefcases and then make it back to home base with the police on your tail.
The first two times I attempted the mission I would get smashed off the road by the ultra-aggressive police car. So, to make things easier, before the mission I just flew a helicopter and ‘parked it’ around the corner from the Haitain mansion – then after I picked up the briefcase I just had to run to my waiting chopper and fly home with the cops left in the dust!
Of course, the star of any Grand Theft Auto game is the game world and the atmosphere and Vice City excels. I love the Miami-inspired architecture, the pastel 80s color scheme of the city and the soundtrack is absolutely incredible – Michael Jackson, Hall and Oates, REO Speedwagon, Luther Vandross, Lionel Richie and I could go on. Great atmosphere, great game though I must admit that playing it on the PC helps mitigating the previous issues of load and save times when this was on the PS2.
The other title I`ve been playing is Metropolis Street Racer for the Dreamcast. I never owned a Dreamcast during the system`s prime and this was a game I only briefly played before but I`ve always been intrigued because I’m a massive fan of Bizarre Creations’ Project Gotham series which was the spiritual successor to MSR.
I’ve only played an hour or two of MSR but the game still holds up fairly well. The Kudos system in the PGR series is front and centre here as well but rather than show the Kudos score in real-time while you’re racing, you get to see it at the end of the race. Like PGR you get Kudos for driving clean sections and drifting but you also get Kudos for finishing laps within a certain time. The more Kudos you get, the more races you can unlock. Another neat touch is that the game uses the Dreamcast’s internal clock to determine whether races are held during the day or night. Very novel idea for a game from 2000! A solid title and a reminder that it's a damn shame Bizarre Creations shut down. RIP.
Vice City remains the only Grand Theft Auto game since GTA 2 that I haven’t finished more than once and, truth be told, it was because I didn’t seem to enjoy it as much as GTA 3, San Andreas or IV. Playing it a second time though made me realize my lack of fond memories weren’t a result of the result of the game itself but moreso the time in my life I was playing the game. I remember getting the game during my miserable first year of medical school where everything felt like a slog so I’m not surprised that the game felt like a bit of a chore as well.
Playing it now, 9 years after release, I’m actually having an absolute blast despite the clearly antiquated game mechanics. The cast of characters is hilarious with my favourite being the leader of the Haitain gang; Auntie Poulet. The missions are a ton of fun and I love that you can use the sandbox nature of the game world to help you. For example, in a mission named Naval Engagement you have to break up a drug deal taking place between the Haitains. You can check out the video below – you have to approach their mansion by water, take to the shore, steal the briefcases and then make it back to home base with the police on your tail.
The first two times I attempted the mission I would get smashed off the road by the ultra-aggressive police car. So, to make things easier, before the mission I just flew a helicopter and ‘parked it’ around the corner from the Haitain mansion – then after I picked up the briefcase I just had to run to my waiting chopper and fly home with the cops left in the dust!
Of course, the star of any Grand Theft Auto game is the game world and the atmosphere and Vice City excels. I love the Miami-inspired architecture, the pastel 80s color scheme of the city and the soundtrack is absolutely incredible – Michael Jackson, Hall and Oates, REO Speedwagon, Luther Vandross, Lionel Richie and I could go on. Great atmosphere, great game though I must admit that playing it on the PC helps mitigating the previous issues of load and save times when this was on the PS2.
The other title I`ve been playing is Metropolis Street Racer for the Dreamcast. I never owned a Dreamcast during the system`s prime and this was a game I only briefly played before but I`ve always been intrigued because I’m a massive fan of Bizarre Creations’ Project Gotham series which was the spiritual successor to MSR.
I’ve only played an hour or two of MSR but the game still holds up fairly well. The Kudos system in the PGR series is front and centre here as well but rather than show the Kudos score in real-time while you’re racing, you get to see it at the end of the race. Like PGR you get Kudos for driving clean sections and drifting but you also get Kudos for finishing laps within a certain time. The more Kudos you get, the more races you can unlock. Another neat touch is that the game uses the Dreamcast’s internal clock to determine whether races are held during the day or night. Very novel idea for a game from 2000! A solid title and a reminder that it's a damn shame Bizarre Creations shut down. RIP.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
The Vet and the nOOb
Despite some issues with the multiplayer community I still enjoy the Modern Warfare series. Activision released a really fun commercial recently with Jonah Hill, Sam Worthington, and a (currently) unemployed basketball player.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Time for a new console generation?
Since I last wrote it’s pretty much been all Battlefield 3 for my gaming time. I’ve spent now approximately 7 hours on the PC and 8 hours on the 360 version. Because my friends are on Xbox Live I’ll ultimately spend more time with the console version in the upcoming weeks/months but I think, in almost every respect, Battlefield 3 is significantly better on the PC. Furthermore, as the title of this post alluded, it’s the first PC game that’s made me wish that my console were more powerful.
After playing some of the single player in Battlefield 3 on the PC, I think it would only be mildly hyperbolic to state that, visually, the PC version absolutely shits on the console version. Again, it’s not just the resolution, but the lighting, the animations, the textures, the particle effects and more. That’s not to say it’s an ugly game on the 360, far from it, it looks very nice but on the PC it is simply jaw-dropping.
Of course, Battlefield 3 isn’t the first PC game in recent memory to look better than it’s console port. Crysis 2, released earlier this year, was another stunner but graphical fidelity aside, the gameplay was more or less the same on the consoles as the PC. This is not the case with Battlefield 3. The (slightly) increased map size, increased number of capture points, and the more than double the player count makes the game way more intense and, on the major maps, much more fun. There’s also more vehicles and improved destructibility of the environments in the PC version as well.
It’s clear that the Frostbite 2 game engine that DICE created is a bit too much for the current crop of consoles but then again, should we be surprised? On November 16th, the Xbox 360 is going to be six years old! A top of the line PC from 6 years ago would probably struggle to run a quarter of newest PC games released today. There’s a finite limit to just how much power developers can squeeze out of the current crop of consoles and I think they are reaching that limit now.
Does that mean that I’m ready to buy the Xbox 3/720/Next/WhateverItsCalled tomorrow? No. There are still dozens upon dozens of games still to enjoy in this current generation but I also wouldn’t be surprised if at the next E3 Sony and Microsoft unveil their next generation of hardware for release in 2013. A looming next console generation is always an exciting time but the transition to the next generation should be even more intriguing as there are many questions that need to be answered that would never have been addressed before; What happens to digital distribution? Will either Sony or Microsoft have the stones to reject physical media or, at the very least, de-emphasize it? What happens to downloadable content? Will I be able to play my downloaded Xbox Live Arcade/PSN games on the next system? What will become of motion control? Will there even be true next-generation hardware or is the next step adoption of an On-Live style cloud-based streaming service?
Lots of questions and I’m hoping we’ll get an answer to some of them at the next E3. In the meantime, I am more than happy to run and gun on the 360 and PS3.......but oh the PC version of Battlefield is just so freakin’ good!
Lavan
After playing some of the single player in Battlefield 3 on the PC, I think it would only be mildly hyperbolic to state that, visually, the PC version absolutely shits on the console version. Again, it’s not just the resolution, but the lighting, the animations, the textures, the particle effects and more. That’s not to say it’s an ugly game on the 360, far from it, it looks very nice but on the PC it is simply jaw-dropping.
Of course, Battlefield 3 isn’t the first PC game in recent memory to look better than it’s console port. Crysis 2, released earlier this year, was another stunner but graphical fidelity aside, the gameplay was more or less the same on the consoles as the PC. This is not the case with Battlefield 3. The (slightly) increased map size, increased number of capture points, and the more than double the player count makes the game way more intense and, on the major maps, much more fun. There’s also more vehicles and improved destructibility of the environments in the PC version as well.
It’s clear that the Frostbite 2 game engine that DICE created is a bit too much for the current crop of consoles but then again, should we be surprised? On November 16th, the Xbox 360 is going to be six years old! A top of the line PC from 6 years ago would probably struggle to run a quarter of newest PC games released today. There’s a finite limit to just how much power developers can squeeze out of the current crop of consoles and I think they are reaching that limit now.
Does that mean that I’m ready to buy the Xbox 3/720/Next/WhateverItsCalled tomorrow? No. There are still dozens upon dozens of games still to enjoy in this current generation but I also wouldn’t be surprised if at the next E3 Sony and Microsoft unveil their next generation of hardware for release in 2013. A looming next console generation is always an exciting time but the transition to the next generation should be even more intriguing as there are many questions that need to be answered that would never have been addressed before; What happens to digital distribution? Will either Sony or Microsoft have the stones to reject physical media or, at the very least, de-emphasize it? What happens to downloadable content? Will I be able to play my downloaded Xbox Live Arcade/PSN games on the next system? What will become of motion control? Will there even be true next-generation hardware or is the next step adoption of an On-Live style cloud-based streaming service?
Lots of questions and I’m hoping we’ll get an answer to some of them at the next E3. In the meantime, I am more than happy to run and gun on the 360 and PS3.......but oh the PC version of Battlefield is just so freakin’ good!
Lavan
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
GTA V
I'm a massive, massive fan of the Grand Theft Auto series. Today Rockstar released a teaser trailer for GTA V, enjoy!
GTA San Andreas was one of my favourite games of all time so I love that they've gone back to California. The even in that short video the environments look incredible and I can't wait to drive around that game world.
What do you think of the trailer?
Lavan
GTA San Andreas was one of my favourite games of all time so I love that they've gone back to California. The even in that short video the environments look incredible and I can't wait to drive around that game world.
What do you think of the trailer?
Lavan
Friday, October 28, 2011
Battlefield 3
Yes, it’s been a bloody long time. I definitely underestimated the rigours of not only work but fatherhood and while I’m still busy as shit (as most people are) I’ve decided that it’s time I get back to writing. And what better place to start than with my most anticipated game of the year – not FIFA 12, not PES 2012 – no, it’s Battlefield 3! I absolutely adored Battlefield: Bad Company 2’s multiplayer and ever since the first videos of Battlefield 3 I’ve been waiting with baited breath for the PC and 360 versions.
After several hours with each game I have to say it doesn’t disappoint. First off, the PC version looks incredible. This current console generation is getting long in the tooth and Battlefield 3, even moreso than Crysis 2 and The Witcher 2, shows us the most compelling argument for new console hardware. It absolutely puts the console version to shame. Not only from the standpoint of the resolution but the textures, the draw distance, the increased detail, the lighting, the animations and much more are stunning. Just look at the picture above – that’s a screenshot and yes, the game really does look that good!!
From a gameplay standpoint, if you’ve played Bad Company 2’s multiplayer then you’ll know what to expect. I would still argue that Call of Duty’s 60fps engine is smoother but I far prefer the team-based objective gameplay in Battlefield. What really makes the game so enjoyable is the fact that you don’t have to be a killing machine to be successful. In fact, more than half of the matches I play I end up with a kill/death ratio less than one but I still rack up the points from doing support actions. I think it’s genius how they’ve incentivised many support actions (from repairing vehicles to even spotting enemies) so that it’s in your best interest to be a good team-player because you’ll end up with more points.
My two favourite classes are Assault/Medic, as you can rack up points by healing and reviving your teammates, and Engineer as you can repair vehicles and you have access to all manner of RPGs!
The level design is hit and miss, depending upon not only the map itself but also the platform – the PC version supports 64 player games (32 vs. 32) while the 360/PS3 version only has a max of 24 player games (12 vs. 12). The PC maps also appear to be marginally bigger than their 360 counterparts with a tad more space and a few more capture points (if you’re playing the Conquest mode – and you should) but the increase still isn`t proportional to the number of extra players.
As a result, for the smaller maps such as Grand Bazaar or Tehran Highway I prefer the 360 version as it`s less hectic and you`re not dying every 20 seconds. However, where the game shines is the big maps and it`s here that the PC version is just incredible. A 64-player match on `Kharg Island` makes you feel like you`re not just in a skirmish but in a full-blown war. There are multiple planes and helicopters flying overhead (all controlled by human players), vehicles racing around the map, buildings being blown up left right and centre – it`s breathtaking.
A word must also be said about the sound design in this game which is very impressive. Multiple explosions and an RPG whizzing inches over your head sound just as good as they look.
Unfortunately, it`s not all sunshine and roses. The web-based interface for the PC version is a pain in the ass and you have to use the same system to look at your stats from the console version. I didn`t realize you had to use the same email address when you sign up for each version so somehow I now have two different `Battlelog` accounts, one for each platform, and am waiting on Customer Service to merge my two accounts (if they can/will).
I will have continuing thoughts and impressions in the upcoming weeks and I’ll also chime in on FIFA, PES and a bunch of other games. And this time, I promise, I won’t disappear for a year.
For the three of you reading this, go buy Battlefield 3 now and don’t forget to add me – “DrMacca” on both Battlelog (PC) and Xbox Live.
Lavan
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