What We Played #46

There’s few words from me this week as for a change I’ll simply present you with the others’ own words for what they’ve been up to.  I’ve been a bit out of sorts this week and it really showed in my regular Gran Turismo 5 meet where I failed to set any fastest laps or record any race wins.  Party time for everyone else playing though.

I’ve also been battling super mutants, trogs, communist Chinese invaders and ‘rim-lag having returned to Fallout 3 to progress my playthrough which already sits somewhere north of 200 hours. Unnecessarily prolonging the main story I diverted through some of the DLC.  Operation Anchorage made a nice change to the standard brown colouring of Fallout 3’s terrain while The Pitt was frustrating both for it’s hideous and almost unplayable ‘rim-lag and the search in the Steelyard for the last three ingots which turned out not to be in the Steelyard afterall.

It turns out if you want to get under Kris‘ skin simply take the mickey out of his favourite sea birds then point out that there’s no such thing as a seagull anyway:

Despite Greg’s rather cheeky comments about Brighton, I’ve brought them up into the Premier League in FIFA 12. We managed to scrape a 1-1 draw on the last day of the season, winning us the Championship title on goal difference.

Playing in the Premier League is much trickier than the Championship was, and with my League Cup win from last season I have the European League (FIFA 12’s version of the Europa League) to contend with as well.

Now we just have to see if the real Brighton and Hove Albion can achieve the same dizzying heights.

I’ve also made an insane agreement with my house mate Davs (who you may well know as djhsecondnature) for both of us to play though the Mass Effect trilogy, one game per month. Hopefully I’ll have had a crack at the first game by this time next week, playing like that might actually force me to get through them.

Peter meanwhile just can’t stop with the finger-painting while also working on Oscar Mike Media’s next venture:

Triple Town, Angry Birds Space and Draw Something on the iPad. My >99 streak with my wife continues but I hear that OMGPop are raising the display limit to 999 so hopefully it will remember how many turns we’ve taken when that update arrives!

I’m still grabbing the odd hour of Mass Effect 3 when I can find the time, still only feels like I’ve hit the second act rather than approaching an endgame so I’ve got to find time to keep plugging away at that over the next week!

Most of my time has been spent finishing up bits for the new iPad magazine, Nextaxis, and then fiddling with certificates and mobileprovisions and all sorts of weird developer type stuff that I don’t understand in an effort to get an app submitted to Apple for the AppStore. I’m awaiting their judgement now!

Always up for a bit more level grinding in the MMO du jour Jim has found another one to play to distract himself from ME3’s troubling end:

It’s been a busy week already, both in terms of gaming and otherwise.

At the top of my list is a bit of a surprise entry titled Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes. In a nutshell it strips the PvP arena combat from an MMO, condenses it, and makes it appealing to the more casual gamer. It can be as tough as hell, but I’m really enjoying it and can’t wait to see what BioWare Mythic have planned once WoH launches.

Speaking of BioWare, I’ve pretty much abandoned Mass Effect 3. I’m in the camp of people who were bitterly disappointed with the game’s ending; I’m at a point where I no longer care about how BioWare tries to stitch up the wound, I’ve just been struck down by Mass Effect apathy. The multiplayer hasn’t really helped either; I really dig the gameplay but you can only play a Horde mode variant so many times before it grows stale.

Not to mention the endless connection problems. 4 out of the 5 games I had over the week disconnected me during the final stages, one even doing so as I was just about to climb into the extraction shuttle. It wouldn’t be so horrific if the game rewarded you for your exploits pre-disconnection.

Finally I’ve been lapping some of you noobs out there on MotorStorm RC (not actually). Having achieved gold on all challenges I can’t see any way of shaving off my times to grab the coveted platinum trophy. Really dig the game though.

This week’s award for playing the least-fun ‘game’ goes to Dan:

I’ve been playing “find a job”. It’s an incredibly stressful game about a guy forced to seek work 300 miles away from his family. It’s not overly enjoyable, feels drawn out in places and the graphics are rubbish. 8/10.

Last but not least here’s Aran‘s take on his week’s gaming.  Is it just me or does RE:ORC sound like the kind of thing Saruman might get up to?

This week has seen more Bioshock 2 and Football Manager, as well as a failed attempt at Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City. Honestly, I really think RE:ORC multiplayer option may be the worst I’ve experienced in a while. Fails to find matches even through quick match and if I want to leave it’s take a while to return to the main menu. I played a bit of the campaign but it failed to hook me.

Football Manager, I’m still in the first season with Arsenal while my brother applies for managerial job after getting the sack from Chelsea. However, I’m close to getting sacked as well because it will now be impossible for me to finish above 7th. Don’t worry, Arsenal fans. We’re still in the Europa League after I won the League Cup. Yeah, I managed to win silverware with Arsenal. What’s your excuse, Wenger?!

And finally, Bioshock 2. I’m kicking myself for not getting it soon after it released and denying myself such a great game for a long time I just spent about an hour exploring a relatively tiny area, backtracking and I didn’t mind because each time a new detail would catch my eye. Also no other game has really made me hesitate before engaging an enemy. The Big Daddies are some of the most tragic characters in gaming and I always feel a bit guilty when engaging them in a fight.

The normal service of taking everyone’s quotes out of context should be resumed next week.  For now though, why not tell us what you’ve been playing?