What We Played #54

There’s been something missing from What We Played of late. Something that used to be a weekly constant. This week it’s back: Tuffcub has been playing Killzone 3. “Everyone seems to have improved during my hiatus and I’m only coming fourth or fifth each round”. Sounds like he’s been getting a refresher course in pwnage.

Mass Effect 3’s Insanity difficulty has been driving Aran insane. “It is unforgiving, at one point leaving me with no ammo, which isn’t great if you’re playing the Soldier class. Instead I had to rely on Liara & Kaiden to clear the way for me until I got to an ammo cache.” Is that the ME3 equivalent of a mother pushing her child’s pram into the road first when she wants to cross? (One for Dave Allen fans there.)

He’s also picked up one of this gen’s early titles, The Darkness, to play before picking up the sequel. “I’m enjoying it, though switching between guns and the Darkness isn’t as smooth as it could be.” Not since Ico has a game made sitting on the sofa with an NPC such an emotional event. It’s a game with some genuine surprises too which makes it more of a shame that our TSA PlayThru play through was never completed.

Peter spent much of his gaming time stealthily shooting his way through the good and bad in Ghost Recon Future Soldier.

It had moments of real brilliance but they were all interspersed with moments where it tried to be a budget version of Modern Warfare. I don’t usually like making that kind of direct comparison but with GRFS they really can’t be avoided, sections of it are almost embarrassingly similar to Activision’s game. When it sticks to what makes it unique, though, it is really good.

[drop]As an aside, have you seen our new magazine-like review format that we’re trialing for big titles? Alex was up first with his Max Payne 3 review and Peter’s Ghost Recon Future Soldier review is the second. What do you think? Like it, love it, Loathe it?

After previously telling us that he’d finally ‘got’ Minecraft Peter has gotten a little carried away with it. “I’ve played an unhealthy amount, late into the night.” And why’s that Peter? “I’m building a huge feast hall because I’m an idiot.” Don’t think I’ve ever seen a Minecraft hog-roast so I’m looking forward to seeing some screenshots.

A new highly interactive offline game has been occupying much of Jim’s attention:

This week I’ve been playing a game called A-level revision. The learning curve has been fairly steep, but there’s a great story to be told beneath the monotonous yet enriching design; the varied cast of characters have definitely been fleshed out since the original game, Politics and Government AS. Think I’m approaching level cap, but it’s a bit too early to tell.

The “well-crafted” Max Payne 3 has been getting plenty of attention as well, and he singles out the multi-player as a pleasant surprise. “It feels a lot different from your average third person online shooter, yet has plenty of depth.” It’s not all coming up roses though as “the spawning system is so god damn volatile.”

[drop2]Other notable mentions from Jim go to the “tedious” Operation Raccoon City and the “fantastic handheld port” of Mortal Kombat Vita “ that retains everything I love about its console counterpart.” Make sure you keep an eye out for a Mortal Kombat review soon.

As for myself I’ve managed depressingly little gaming this week. I’ve spent a handful of minutes playing MotorStorm RC on my PS Vita making sure I’m ahead of Peter on the leaderboards wherever he’d posted a faster time. Of course Gran Turismo 5 got its weekly run out too.

Treasures of Montezuma Blitz has been getting a few minutes attention most days and this is where I could do with your help. I can regularly get scores around 100k but not much more. What am I missing? Is there some trick to extend the about of time per round beyond the usual minute other than the score-truncating Dark Mode? Any advice on the best totems, etc., to use?

And of course I’d like to hear what you’ve been playing.