I can’t bring myself to do it. I had a couple of spare hours and the opportunity to continue my adventure in Columbia but after all the similarities to the original I encountered in the first couple of hours of playing it, I just couldn’t bring myself to pop the Bioshock Infinite Blu-ray back into my PS3.
Maybe one day. There was of course only one thing to do instead: play Mass Effect 3 online.  I’ve yet to start the Citadel DLC, as whenever I fire up my PS Plus-provided digital copy of the game I head straight for the brilliant multiplayer action, even if it’s only to try and solo a new map. If you’re playing solo in multiplayer is it really multiplayer?
Like myself and Bioshock Infinite, Kris also tried to play a game and didn’t quite make it. Different game and reason though. The game was Driver: San Francisco and the reason was having a quick go of Just Cause 2 while Driver downloaded. A quick go that lasted until about 2AM the following morning.
Compounding that, a town-skipping friend has borrowed what he claims to be his only PS3 charge cable and his prolonged JC2 session has left his DS3 battery kaput. Â I can’t believe anybody these days only has one USB cable, they’re a permanent trip hazard ’round here whether you want mini or micro connectors on them, but Kris is sticking to his story [It’s depressingly true – Kris].
Spotting a cheap looking Lara Croft hanging out on a dimly lit corner of the PSN Store, Dan couldn’t resist the urge to drop a score to pick her up. Â He’s “not massively impressed” with Tomb Raider so far though. Â “It seems to be walk ten paces, cutscene, irritating QTE, rinse, repeat.”
Peter meanwhile has managed to finish Bioshock Infinite:
I think I said last week that I loved the world they’d created but wasn’t too keen on the game parts through which you experienced that world. It kind of falls apart a little bit later with a terrible difficulty spike and some laborious sections that seem to simply be there to prolong things but the ending was certainly worth experiencing.
Though it was not as mind-blowing as some seemed to think – I thought it was kind of obvious from about a third of the way into the game – there are some very smart allusions that go some way to excusing the poor gameplay design earlier in the game.
He’s certainly not helping with my struggle to return to Columbia. He also teases that if you’re about on Tuesday then he’ll be able to tell you about Guacamelee but I failed to threaten or cajole him into giving us any early hints.
Aran has been playing Terraria for our review and just in case WWP beats it onto TSA’ s front page [It didn’t – Kris] he summarises it as “a fun and engaging experience” where you’ll easily “lose hours exploring its world” which is essentially like “2D Minecraft with RPG mechanics”.
After 20 hours of Assassin’s Creed 3 he reckons he’s about halfway through the story, and while Connor “may not be the most interesting character” the game’s world and all the hunting, myth debunking and sailing in the “fun side quests” are keeping him ably entertained.
Last up this week is Tuffcub with a bunch of tiny reviews of his week’s gaming:
- Bioshock Infinite – Played, finished, started well but went wonk at the end. 8/10
- The Walking Dead – Played, finished, just to get my second platinum. Episode three and four are much better than the rest. 4/10
- Killzone 3 – 2,800 XP in one mortar strike. YES! 11/10
- Need For Speed: Most Wanted – Still enjoying this on PS Vita. 9/10
- Under Defeat HDÂ – Picked this up for a tenner, pleasingly simple bullet hell shoot’em’up. 7/10
- F1 Race Stars – Played against the nephews over Easter. Shite single player but fun multiplayer. 6/10
I really must make an effort to go back to The Walking Dead myself, I’ve still only played the first episode!
Anyway, rather than list all the games I’ve still to finish (as it would take way too long) I should probably just invite you to let us know what you’ve played this week…
bmg_123
Bioshock: infinite; 10/10!!! AAAaaaaaHHHH! I LOVED IT!
Origami Killer
I’ve just started playing Civilization 5, which was a bad idea because I can’t get off it. Love these types of games, and Civ 5 does everything right!
Still think that £24 deal for BioShock, Infinite, Civ 5 and Xcom was the bargain of the year.
transbaconist (formerly bacon_nuts)
I remember the first day I got Civ 5. Started playing about 10pm, looked out my window after what I thought was an hour or two… Nope, sun was coming up. So I just carried on…
Origami Killer
Wow least my playtime hasn’t been that bad! It’s still not good when I’ve got assignments and revision to be doing.
transbaconist (formerly bacon_nuts)
Bioshock Infinite “Went wonk at the end”!? Are you mental? The ending was superb.
Please play it. I thought it was a genuinely stunning game. And I was fine with the difficulty curve… Sure, some bits get tough at the end, but it’s nothing you can’t handle if you use all the mechanics.
Tuffcub
I didnt have any problem with playing it, I finished it. I meant the story went downhill.
transbaconist (formerly bacon_nuts)
I got what you meant. Personally I think you’re wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed the story, particularly the ending. Different opinions obviously, I’m just a tad surprised.
Taylor Made
I agree with Tuff, bioshock is an 8!
Been playing bioshock, tried it on that 19 something mode lets just say it’s harder than I thought, so won’t be trying for plat now. A bit of tomb raider
Eldave0
Was going through the attic at my parents house this weekend and stumbled upon my collection of older games and consoles.
Suffice to say most of my week has been spent playing the likes of Castlevania 4, Micro Machines, Super Bomberman, Mortal Kombat, Sonic 1-3, Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario World, Super Metroid and plenty more.
Also found my old Gamecube so I can see Killzone night being swapped out for Timesplitters 2 this evening when my mates pop over :D
element666
I was playing bioshock infinite,until I’ve got stuck near the end,I won’t say where in case I spoil anythings,but it has made me go from loving the game to hating it. I just cannot get past it,and it’s not cause I’m shit I’m a pretty good gamer lol. Anyways after that I just went back to ni no kuni which is now one of my all time faves :-) and out and about I’ve been playing jet pack joyride on the vita.
I picked up Darksiders 2 cheap and I want to start it,but I can’t use the online pass as all the dlc including the pass has been taken off the store,which is a pain.
kjkg
If it’s at the bit I’m at then I can understand why. If it’s later, then I’m really going to struggle. Ehhhh trying to think of a way to describe spoiler free.
Is it at the bit where you are looking for 3 of something? And you meet a “unique” foe three times? Not easy.
Origami Killer
Oh I know that bit, I played the game on easy, and it was simple, there’s harder parts than that later.
element666
Its not that bit, Its hard to sat without spoiling it lol. You are getting relentlessly attacked while trying to do something else I’ve tried for 2 hours to do it so have given up. I’m hoping it’ll be one of them cases where you go back and do it first try :-)
kjkg
Bugger, if I’m finding the bit I’m at difficult then I might be in trouble. I have the problem of not using my vigors nearly enough to keep me ahead of the curve.
Peter Chapman
almost impossible without spoilers but I’ll try… if it’s the bit I noticed a (2nd) big difficulty spike at, focus on targeting the ground – with your best possible weapon – when you’re clear, then look up.
element666
Yeah that is the bit I’m on about,I’ll go back to it when I feel less frustrated with it :-)
yiddo
Not trying to be cocky here, but this game really isn’t hard. Well, not to me anyway. Maybe the recent influx of more easier games has softened you all :)
McProley
I agree, I didn’t find it hard on hard mode. There was a couple of tough bits but with the right setup they were easy to overcome. 1999 mode is a bit of a challenge though.
yiddo
That’s a good part of a game experience though, challenge! I’m going through 1999 too, and it’s a bit tough but it’s great. I mean, it’s tough but not impossible. It’s not even near Dark/Demons Souls level of difficulty.
McProley
Yeah, agreed. A challenge definitely is a good gaming experience :)
element666
I suppose it’s down to how we’ve all played the game,preferring different vigors and weapons. I play most games on hard and don’t usually have a problem,I’m not sure why it seems so hard. I’ll get it done soon enough :-)
yiddo
A little tip (if you haven’t already). Upgrade the Murder of Crows so that it has the ability to create a nest trap when you kill somebody who is being attacked by the crows, and also use the gear that has a 30% chance of providing you with salts upon an enemies death. That way you can combine spamming Murder of Crows whilst dealing weapon damage (thus creating nest traps that other enemies will get attacked by, which you then also kill with your weapon or another vigor if salts are plentiful, creating more traps) whilst getting potential salts upon each kill. Rinse and repeat that tactic when against heavy crowds of enemies which have quite a few melee types in them.
kjkg
Bioshock Infinite. Very good. Not brilliant yet however. I think I’m a bout 3/4 of the way through and I’d have to say an 8/10, with a possibility of it going up to 9 depending on ending and how replayable it feels in 1999 mode.
Youles
Tomb Raider which ia absolutely fantastic, one of the best games I’ve played in ages – wonderful stuff. I’m 85% through it now so should finish it over the weekend before moving swiftly on to Bioshock Infinite!
On Vita I’ve played Assassin’s Creed 3 Liberation which is also excellent, although slightly broken and frustrating in places, but sill very good.
(I think this may have been the week before but) I also managed to get the “High Maintenance” Easter egg trophy in the first Black Ops 2 DLC, which I’ve now 100%’ed. Thanks to McProley, SwedishRyan, and my brother!
Plenty of Bang Bang Racing too which is a really fun little game, shame the multiplayer is local-only.
I have also played some Dead Light on my laptop which is great, I intend to put some more time into that soon.
Tonight I should be playing some more Dead Space 3 with MJB!
Youles
Oh, and I’ve also signed for Man United on New Star Soccer on iOS, but not made it into the National Team yet…I’m a 9-Star rating player but still seem rubbish sometimes, lol!
bunimomike
Same here. I thought Tomb Raider was fantastic fun. Definitely edging out Bioshock Infinite as the better game… so far. I think I’ll have Infinite finished within a few days time so we’ll see how I feel then with regards to the better title.
Youles
I can’t see much beating TR, but happy to see if Bioshock is better, cos that can only mean it’s awesome!
gaffers101
Mainly played Bioshock Infinite this week. Also been trying to grind out the last couple of multiplayer trophies on Tomb Raider, but boy does that get boring pretty quickly!!
Started playing a bit of The Cave last night – that’s quite interesting.
RocketSOL
I have to agree with Dan’s opinion on Tomb Raider. The first 3rd has far too many QTE’s for my liking. But stick with it as it gets so much better. Fantastic game.
KeRaSh
I honestly can’t think of too many QTEs in the game. It’s definitely not on a God of War level.
The same thing goes for the “ten steps and a cut scene” part. That’s not how I remember it… That might have been the case for the first 30-60 minutes, but that’s not representative for the rest of the game…
RocketSOL
Well, the number of QTE’s may not have been that many but I’m not a fan of them. I find it to be a lazy design mechanic that can become borderline infuriating (God of War).
As for the cut scene issue, that really didn’t bother me. The whole game was cinematic and I thought it broke up the gameplay nicely.