Thanks to a curious time dilation effect which has seen this week’s ‘free time’ morph into something entirely different you get a rare treat this week. You get to read what the team have been playing entirely in their own words without them being sullied by any of my attempts at humour.
First up, my own trivial amount of gaming. It started okay with a couple of friends around last weekend and a good Rock Band 3 session. Cue a next-day loss of voice from spending too long on vocals.
I’ve also dipped my toe into Mass Effect 3‘s multi-player and found what little I’ve played surprisingly enjoyable. When attempting the missions as a team of two relatively low-level (levels 1 through 8) characters the objective-based third wave becomes something of a roadblock though.
Maintaining my sanity while my free time evaporated has been sporadic holes on Everybody’s Golf played on my PS Vita. Being able to pick it up, play a hole or even just a couple of shots and put the PS Vita into standby ready for the next time I get a spare minute has been invaluable.
I’m not the only one Vita-gaming this week. Tuffcub has again been purely indulging in handheld action:
Nothing on PS3, but more Treasures Of Monty Python on Vita. That bug I mentioned last week wasn’t a one off and almost every time I swicth on the game it tells me I’ve been away for over one hundred days and gives me loads of freebies. As a result I now have more lives than the game can handle it it just display “1000+” in the counter.
I’ve also been playing the LBP Vita Beta (which is awesome) and Velocity.
LittleBigPlanet Vita has also been keeping Alex and friends entertained:
LittleBigPlanet Vita, which is under NDA but I’m not really fussed – it’s brilliant. I showed it to a mate last night (and didn’t get to sign ANYTHING) and he was like – woah – it’s a PS3 game. I said NO! it’s not, it’s a Vita game and he was like – woah – really? Yes. YES. It’s gorgeous. Plays better than the PS3 versions because the floaty jump isn’t so floaty, the level design is top notch and some of the user content is mindblowing. Hopefully Sony decide to advertise this one.
Not much else. Installed iOS 6 on my iPad and it broke it, which was a real laugh. Now I need to wait until the next beta to see whether they’ll actually let me use by two year old router on it or not. Apple have a thing about two year cut-off dates, huh?
If you were listening carefully at the start of the week you’ll have heard Peter sobbing with disappointment after a certain review:
I really haven’t been able to play much this week, aside from trudging through around 30 hours of the Game of Thrones RPG. That was dreadful in almost every way, unfortunately the good ideas in it seemed to stumble at the first hurdle every time and the voice acting and audio was embarrassingly poor. The one positive was the plot and how it builds slowly before really picking up pace in the last few hours. Not enough to be able to recommend it to anyone though.
Also spending some time in Westeros is Aran:
This week my gaming has consisted of a tiny bit of ME3 and Crusader Kings 2. I restarted my Insanity run on Mass Effect 3, after getting stuck the first time trying it. I’m now playing as an Engineer which is helping me play to my strengths as a tactician.
Crusader Kings 2 is a true tacticians game. A world in which I have my own area and my allies could stab me in the back. In the first game I played I watched as my brother became King of England. Right after that the Normans invaded meaning I had to supply men to the army. The war lasted over a decade, the Normans eventually retreating. Then my nephew went and usurped the throne from his father. At this point I plotted the usurpers overthrow, with the help of one of his allies. Triggered a civil war, which I lost due to the other Lords siding with the new king. Still, I got to keep my lands.
Then I discovered the Game Of Thrones mod. I am now a Stark playing through Robert’s Rebellion (or the War of the Usurper, depending on your loyalty). The story has taken a completely different turn from the books/show due to this Rebellion lasting at least 10 years now with no end in sight. Westeros remains divided and Winter Is Coming.
Territorial wars of a fungal nature have been keeping Toby occupied:
I’ve been playing Mushroom Wars that I downloaded through PlayStation Plus – it’s a game that I wouldn’t usually devote myself to but since trying it I’ve been hooked! Sometimes simplicity is the best route to entertainment, and Mushroom Wars supports that philosophy through and through.
Lastly, crippled by his Internet-free status, Josh has been sharpening up his driving skills ready for the imminent collapse of society:
I’m currently offline after moving house, but before making the move I made sure to pick up all the new Plus freebies and have been playing a little of those here and there – as in I played everything a little bit, and then completed MotorStorm Apocalypse. Despite owning the first two games and playing snippets of Arctic Edge, I never really got into the series before, but Apocalypse is amazing. As great as the tracks and music and everything are, it’s really the atmosphere of the festival and the disaster zone itself that gripped me. Honestly cannot recommend it enough.
Aside from that, I’ve done a couple more levels of Mutant Blobs Attack, played around a bit with the LBP Vita Beta (which annoyingly can’t be launched without a net connection), a bit of the Mahjong game that was free on Plus last month, and finishing up my replay of Arkham Asylum before I get started on City.
So what have you been playing?
bmg_123
Got the Plus freebies…but then got distracted by the excellent Mutant Blobs on Vita. Will be getting Gravity rush soon, now that I’ve sold Golden Abyss. Also, only three more rounds of ‘GCSE 2K12’ to go!
Youles
I was worried something had happened to you Greg, I’ve almost had to leave work ;)
Lots of Vita this week….Platinumed Resistance: Burning Skies, a very enjoyable game. I biggest complaint would have just been the textures, which were lacking in details. LBP Beta which is good fun. LBP2 lost my interest a bit but this version, with the Vita’s various controls looks like it will be fun and better suited to a portable. Finished the enjoyable (and Free, due to a mix up on the PS Store) Escape Plan DLC to restore my 100%. The costumes are really good and a lovely addition! Then several hours on Gravity Rush which is brilliant – probably the first Vita game that people on PS3 are potentially missing out on.
On PS3 I have started Sniper Elite V2, which I am really enjoying. A fair amount of DiRT 3 (finished 100 miles in Monte Carlo), did some multiplayer grinding, and the TSA Cat n Mouse meet was great fun – people were dishing out and receiving a lot of (car) abuse!! I’ve had a few games on Awesomenauts and purchased Bang Bang Racing after enjoying the demo. I also had a few multiplayer games of MW3 and MW2 (with no signs of hackers which was good news).
Greg Aldridge
Work’s happened to me this week. I’m hoping to get to go home myself soon and start finding time for food, sleep and gaming in that order. :-)
Youles
I think you need to prioritise better: gaming; food; sleep, in that order.
Hope you leave soon ;)
Jakster123x
The LBP Vita Beta is awesome, but obviously i’m terrible at creation.
bmg_123
Oh darn, I’m the same! I really tried to do things on the PS3 versions…but alas, I just tended to go off course and improvise my levels, so they tended to be a bit odd…
Jakster123x
Yeah, i go off on tangents quite a lot and when i do try and focus on one idea, like i did yesterday, it takes several iterations just for one very simple part of the level to work.
Origami Killer
Some of the levels created much take days! I’ve put many hours into LBP 2 creation and fine my levels are still simplistic :L
element666
I finally got my new vegas to 100% which took forever due to the glitches!
finished virtual fighter 5,which was good but i don’t think i’d have paid for it.Also started strangers wrath which is awesome!
Platinumed Resistance burning skies,pretty good bit short though,restored my escape plan 100% with the bargain 21p dlc! and i got mutant blobs attack which is superb!
Youles
Well done on New Vegas mate – I know you’ve been working on that for quite a few weeks!
element666
cheers mate,i kept havin to quit and reload every 20 to 30 mins,hence why it took so long! lol.
Origami Killer
I haven’t actually had that many glitches in New Vegas, played just over 50hours and only crashed once.
fallout 3 however, on the final DLC mission the frame rate dropped to the lowest ive ever seen a game run at!
element666
The whole game was fine until half-way through the dlc,it kept going so slow it was unplayable.Ruined my enjoyment of it towards the end :(
mrfodder
Finished Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood and got to look at 10 minutes of Darksiders whcih I hope to crack into tomorrow. On Vita it was Unit 13, Modnation Racers, LBP Beta and Hustle Kings demo. Like Hustle Kings so will buy on Sunday once my kids give me my Father’s Day present of a PSN card. Would have played Escape Plan demo too if it wasn’t broken.
Origami Killer
I’ve given up on TOM Blitz now. Unlike the rest of the world the game has given me nothing since the update, I don’t even get the daily scratch card any more. There seems to be a lack of moves to make every round I play, with like half of it being covered in chains. Crystal count is low so dont use bonuses that often. Might delete it soon, trophies are still glitched too.
Apart from that, ive got more complaints. This time for F1 2011 Vita. I like the game yet the time trials are so unbalanced. On certain circuits you can beat the gold requirement by a good 5 seconds. Then on a certain few they are literally impossible to beat, im quite good on the game but bloody hell its fucking impossible.
Just started Sniper Elite V2. Loving it so far. Apart from the shitty checkpoint system which has made me lose a good half hour of play each time.
On a good note. Downloaded PulzAR which is something different, very good puzzles and it makes good use of the AR cards. I recommend for every Vita owner. Still it does have problems with tracking.
Played more of MW3. Finally got interesting but still the worst COD i’ve played.
Ive played all this whilst being just over half way into my A2 exams :P
Origami Killer
Oh and the LBP Vita, which crashes quite a lot, but is good fun :) Shame I suddenly lose all my imagination when i go on create. I ended up making a controllerable train XD
element666
I was thinking of picking up PulzAR i reckon I will as you recommend it :)
Origami Killer
Best AR game I’ve played :) Also table top tanks is worth a go, only £1.59 each too.
element666
yeah got table top tanks its a blast (no pun intended) lol
R1MJAW
Outside of the Dirt meets I’ve not really played much. A few rounds of Tiger 13 and some TOM Blitz. I also received my copy of Lollipop Chainsaw yesterday, but I’ve only played through the prologue so far.
On that note, there is another patch due out approximately next week to fix the trophy problems … however, according to Alawar’s blog, the trophies will remain local only at the moment (apparently Sony are working to rectify this).
Taylor Made
Played LBP Beta sorry it looks rubbish….
Mutant blob attack sweet game been on that yesterday
Played some gravity rush going play more when I’m back home. But something is not right about this game can’t put my finger to it yet like when you walk down the subway stairs the screen does some weird glitch like should have waited til it’s cheaper
The Lone Steven
Still playing Rimlag. Joined the Companions(the Fighters Guild of Skyrim) and became Harbinger within 2 days. The effing questline is only 6 quests long and the second quest results in you becoming a high ranking member! WTF!?A newbie should not be able to join the ranks of the Circle after doing eff all! The questline should have been longer to allow character development as well as getting you more involved with oh i don’t know, being a companion instead of that guy who joined that other day and now is in charge. Oh and being a Werewolf is fun but could do with being more powerful in order to compensate for the reduced armour rating.
Also did the Blessings of Nature quest and tis a decent quest. The Eldergleam sanctuary is one of the best locations in Skyrim. Explored some ruins and discovered a few quests. Also did a few misc quests. Reached level 100 in smithing by grinding it for 10 minutes and made a fair bit of gold in the proccess. Ebony Armour is easily one of the best looking armours in Skyrim. Also completed Namria’s quest( I think it was her quest as i can’t remeber who the Daedric prince that is involved with cannaibals.) Well, i say completed, more like failed due to me killing her followers to save someone.
Gain more shouts and killed 3 dragons this week. Also bought Vindrel Hall in Markrath. Tis a Dwemer themed house and has a lot of room. I did join the Legion but i reloaded an earlier save as I plan to do the civil war quest after I’ve done the main quest up untill Sky Haven Temple or if i get Dawnguard by the time that happens. That and I’m not ready to stop doing exploring and taking my time as a Soldier of the Legion would get punished for not following orders, in lore terms and you could say that i’m doing a bit of Role playing with that. I’ve worn the Wolf Armour throughout the Companions quests. I plan to only use Heavy Imperial Legion armour when doing the Civil War questline up untill I’ve completed it. Of course, i will turn it into a Legendary armour set complete with enchantments that suit a Battlemage. Regen magic faster, fortify magic faster and resist etc..
Did get a bit of lag yesterday that resulted in me getting killed by the Forsworn as i couldn’t heal in time. Dragons are becoming routine now as they lack the challenge that they had at lower levels. I killed a freaking blood dragon just by attacking it with my sword when it landed. It went from full health to no health due to that.
Will pay the Greybeards a visit when i’m level 40+ or when i’ve found most shouts.
I plan to get Dark Souls next week so i suspect my comment will be bigger then this one and contain me getting my arse kicked by it. :) Oh and any tips to what class i should start as on my first playthrough would be welcome. As i’ve not played a Souls game and usually don’t ask for times for RPGs but this is the hardest game this gen and really don’t want to get 10 hours in, realise the class i;m using is not suited to my tatics and start again. Damm it, i’ve written something that is bigger then the article again!(probably not but still is big)
Origami Killer
Well you like magic so its best to go one of those type of classes on it. I keep to melee and so chose the knight, as I did with Demons Souls. First ten hours of Dark Souls have been very challenging so far :)
The Lone Steven
Yeah but i think Magic may be a bit useless against enemies that can kill you in one hit if they can get close enough. Plus, i’m thinking of using melee as that way, I can avoid getting killed due to not having a weapon to defend myself if an enemy gets close enough to attack me. Will still die though. A lot. *orders a warehouse full of stressballs* :p May the typical sword and shield combo and slowly kill my enemies. And crap myself when a massive boss comes out of nowhere.
Origami Killer
The bosses so far have been really easy with melee combat. Its the magic users who get you from distance, a shield is defenceless against them. So you will need magic to progress or a form of long distance weaponry. As a knight one thing that is lacking is agility, slow movement is very dangerous in the game but the heavy damage and good armour makes up for it in a way. Just have your wits about you at all times. Diligence is key.
The Lone Steven
I may end up using the Wanderer class and try to make a battlemage if possible. Preferably a two handed weapon one. :)
Origami Killer
If im being brutally honest thats a bad decision. Wanderer is the worst to go for a beginner into the franchise. Also using two handed weapons is a risk again :P
tactical20
I played through AC Revelations and did all the side quests and collectables. Enjoyed it. Only problem I had was money. Even though I maxed my income fairly early on, I still always seemed to be waiting for the bank in order to buy a frigging book. Not a problem I experienced in the other games. Always seemed to have money coming out my arse with those! Next week I’m gonna finish 100% for Red Dead Redemption (just a few bounty locations to do), then I’m gonna play through Arkham City again. Too poor to buy anything new at the moment!