This week a business trip to Germany offered me the ideal opportunity to play a variety of PS Vita games while travelling and stuck in hotel rooms. That’s not quite how it turned out though. The only game I played was perennial favourite Vector TD. I still haven’t learnt that I cannot have a “quick go” of that game. My PS3 gaming has once more consisted of nothing but Mass Effect 3 online.
Said business trip has eaten into my free time so for expediency I’ll let the guys tell you in their own words what they’ve been playing. First up we have Jim:
Though not directly gaming-related, I finally managed to finish Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne, the first of David Gaider’s tie-in novels. It definitely has its highlights and helps add credibility to the series’ underpinning lore, forcing me to scour the internet for a cheap copy of Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate Edition.
Aside from quick doses of Max Payne 3 and Wrath of Heroes, I finally sank my teeth into The Secret World, EA’s newest MMORPG from Funcom. To say that I have been pleasantly surprised does not do the game justice; just when I thought I was ready to give up on big-budget MMOs, The Secret World has wowed me to the extent that I’d be willing to prop my account up with a monthly sub. To put that into perspective, I purchased Star Wars: The Old Republic at launch and after a week I had completely given up on the game despite having 20 or so free days on my sub.
LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes has also featured heavily here and there. Coincidentally, it had the same sort of effect as The Secret World. I’m really not a big fan of the LEGO games, simply due to the fact that they all identical in a multitude of aspects, though Batman 2 attempts to re-shape the formula with a few added mechanics and a surprisingly meaty open world.
Minus the odd blast on Shootmania Storm, that’s been it.
We find Peter placing himself and his wallet at the mercy of Valve’s devilishly clever price promotions:
This week, my playing time has mostly been dominated with Steam sale purchases. Every time they hold one of their massive sales, I resolve to resist the lure and without fail I cave in and buy loads of extremely cheap games that will populate my library and barely get touched. This year, I’ve tried to buy the GTA collection for a fiver and only realised that I already owned every game in the bundle when Steam wouldn’t let me purchase it.
I’ve been generally trying to reconnect with my PC for some gaming over the past week or two, thanks to Empire: Total War and Civ V, so the Steam sale couldn’t have come at a better (or perhaps worse) time for me. I finally got around to Anno 2070 and loads of indie games I’d almost bought in the past like Dear Esther, Spacechem and The Binding of Isaac.
And last but not least this week is Aran:
This week I bought Witcher 2. I’m enjoying my playthrough so far, though it can be brutal if you choose the wrong tactic. I eventually adopted the run away & attack from range option, which has seen me survive some pretty tough fights. The game looks brilliant but some of the menu feels cluttered.
I’ve also been playing Leyenda on my phone. It’s a platforming game on Android with such simple design and gameplay but it offers a good challenge. Plus it’s free at the moment.
That’s us, how about your own gaming? Have you succumbed to Steam’s Summer Sale?
bigbaldwolf
I took advantage of the FF sale on PSN so I’ve been playing FF 1,2 and 4. I’d never played 1 and 2 but they are actually pretty good and I can’t complain for £4 each.
bmg_123
Been avoiding the Steam sale in order to not fill up my library with stuff I’ll never play. Other than that, I got Mercenaries 2 on PS3, and loving it so far…just reminds me of the good old days with Pandemic. Only £2 on Amazon too…
Crazy_Del
Played Dead Island which I sort of got the Platinum =P
Also played Everybody’s Golf on Vita.
Currently playing Ridge Racer Unbounded and might start on Saint’s Row 3 ^^
SpikeyMikey23
Finished Assassins Creed Revelations on Sunday. Starting Arkham City tomorrow.
Played some MW3 and also downloaded FF 1 &2 plus war of the Lions.
I am planning on what PS3 game to play next after Arkham City so would appreciate some help choosing from TSA.
Mafia 2
Oddworld Strangers Wrath
LBP 2
Infamous (followed on by Infamous 2)
LA Noire (75% complete)
Catherine
What you reckon?
Youles
LA Noire – might as well finish it at 75%…..gets you through the list quicker!
Btw – have enlisted for several clan events over the weekend!
SpikeyMikey23
sweet, i’ll take a look, mrs is working tomorrow and I’ve got to wait in for the sky man. Plenty of time to sink into the PS3 tomorrow
Youles
Cool – I’m going to try and play in the Saturday night event.
LTG Davey
If you are looking for something a little different give Catherine a go. Such a great game, particularly from a storyline perspective
SpikeyMikey23
Ive played the first chapter, the difficulty ramped up in chapter 2 (for me) so I may have to drop it to easy. I’m not after trophies, it’s just these unfinished games sit there on the shelf taking the piss out of me!!……….. :S
LTG Davey
lol dont worry I played it on easy too. Was personally just interested in the storyline, which didn’t disappoint
R1MJAW
It’s been mostly Quantum Conundrum on PS3 for me this week. I’m currently working on the time and shift goals (so far I’ve done all of the first wing and about a third of the second wing).
TSBonyman
How are you finding the game overall ?- i was a bit put off by the jumping/timed section in the trial but i’m still a bit tempted to pick it up.
R1MJAW
I really enjoyed it. Once you get used to the platforming in first person it’s good fun. Depending on how quickly you can work out the puzzles you’re probably looking at somewhere between 4 and 7 hours to play through the story, but plenty more time if you plan on trying to beat the time and shift goals.
Youles
I’ve mostly been getting frustrated playing the Fallout 3 DLC. Not only is it incredibly glitchy but it’s also rather boring, but it was my first Platinum so I feel I should stick with it and go for the 100%.
Otherwise I’ve been playing Plants vs Zombies on Vita which I love. Going to have a crack at surviving 40 waves over the weekend; and I really need to start collecting all of the Zen garden plants – I can see that trophy being pretty awkward.
Greg Aldridge
Which of the F3 DLC have you played so far? I liked Op. Anchorage and Point Lookout the best, then probably The Pitt, Mothership Zeta and Broken Steel in descending order of fun/interest. Though Point Lookout was by far the glitchiest (if I can get away with a made-up word). Might pick up PvZ for my Vita this weekend as it’s a couple of quid off.
Youles
I’m just about to finish The Pitt and have done Operation Anchorage. Thanks for the heads up regarding Point Lookout….I might do that next then before my Save File gets too big!! OA was good, especially at the start and it was refreshing that the enemies disappeared after death (it meant my OCD didn’t go crazy and I had to loot them all). I’m looking forward to Point Lookout the most actually.
You should pick up PvZ, it’s really fun and lots of different mini-games etc unlock as you play the main story so there’s lots of variety on offer, and it has a Platinum. I think I got it for £8.99 and it’s less than 100Mb so not even harsh on your memory card!!
element666
I agree youles, I found most of the dlc a bit boring,I think its because I enjoyed the main game so much.
As for PvZ the zen garden isn’t that bad,you’ve got the worst trophy out of the way,which is lucky spin.It took me hours to get that,I almost gave up with it!
Youles
You know it’s been patched, right? :D You only need to match ANY three items using the slot machine, lol.
Yeah – I think the main story in F3 was so good, the DLC really just feels like you’re going from A-B, speak to this person, then back again. At least the locations make a nice change to the depressing looking Wasteland!!
element666
As if it got patched! gob smacked,it took ages but oh well i got the platinum in the end!
Youles
It did honestly, after I bought it there was an update and it changed the trophy requirements! I guess the update was after you earned it :(
element666
Madness,its a bit like when you got 100% on escape plan and after they made it well easy!
element666
And after you got it, I meant to say.lol
KeRaSh
Damn Valve and their incredible sales…
Bought Super Meat Boy, The Binding of Isaac + DLC, vvvvvv, Alan Wake and Alan Wake’s American Nightmare… Only played the first three of the list and spent most of my time with SMB. Going for a 100% run but it’s getting increasingly frustrating… ^^
LTG Davey
I currently have a pretty large pool of different games I keep dabbling in, so:
+ Met up with a few mates on Saturday and had our first LAN this year. Played the usual suspects including Gears3, Perfect Dark Zero and Halo Reach. Also played through all 50 waves of Future Soldier’s Guerilla mode, which was pretty awesome.
+ Throughout the week I did another couple of chapters of Gears 2’s campaign, finally played through Portal 2 (omg what an amazing game!) and also had a couple of rounds of survival on Shank 2.
+ I also picked up a couple of cheapy games from Blockbusters (Splinter Cell Conviction, a WWE game, and F1 2010, plus a Harry Potter one for the Mrs) as well as Virtua FIgher 5 off the XBL store, so I made a bit of a start on those.
MadJunkBoy
been mostly playing R&C, DiRT Showdown and some Age of Empires II on my PC…
soon plat on R&C…..
in the final of the DiRT Tourny…
and been playing AoE II online with friends and beating up some Hard AI =D
element666
I managed to platinum strangers wrath which I was chuffed with! Been going steady with R and C trilogy.
And then I have played through metal gear solid 2 and 3 on vita,and was gutted to find out I managed to get through snake eater and killed 2 people somewhere along the way!So just missed out on the peace walker trophy.lol!
Forrest_01
Yeah, it’s always bad when you walk around killing people without knowing anything about it. :D