What We Played #70: FIFA 13, New Star Soccer, Machinarium

Things did not go well at the weekend as the Mass Effect 3 online community failed to reach the target set in the three-day operation, coming up 20,000 short of the Allied goal. At least I got the squad goal done.

Given the modest target we were set it was a little surprising not to reach it. Whether it indicates that players thought it was an easy target so played less or that the player base is falling away now that New Game Season™ is about to burst upon us who can tell. It will be interesting to see what, if anything, BioWare do to try and maintain interest in the face of autumn’s onslaught of new titles.

Is it Joe Danger: The Movie or Joe Danger 2? There’s some confusion even among those like Alex who have played the game. Not that it matters as “it’s brilliant” he tells me. “Really solid gameplay, great graphics and actually pretty funny. Even the good lady was interested, looking up and saying ‘that looks nice’. Basically, there’s your 10/10.” And who can argue with that.

Kris is still filling what little free time he gets with New Star Soccer where he’s now managing Birmingham in the Premier League. “Whilst we’re 7th in the league, we’ve got good cup runs in the League Cup, FA Cup (which we’re defending) and Europa League going. Might do a cup triple, which would be lovely!” His beloved Albion must be feeling neglected.

“Finally got around to playing The Walking Dead Episode 2”, says Dan. “So grim, yet utterly compelling! So far the episodes I’ve played have been game of the year material in terms of how story/characters are dealt with.” It’s all good then is it Dan? “My only gripe is with the game engine (on the PS3 at least). It stutters and judders and you always get the feeling it’s one step away from crashing, which it did at the end, preventing me from seeing my end-game stats.”

Finding himself with some proper gaming time for the first time in a while Josh has been taking full advantage of it.

I’ve been working my way through Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4 PS3 in co-op with my girlfriend, I started (and completed) Machinarium, I played a little bit of The Fight before it drove me mental with its constant punching wildly into the sky above my opponents heads, and also finished up Rayman Origins on Vita – I did have a couple of goes on the Land of the Livid Dead extra level, but I’ve very definitely given up for now.

With Sleeping Dogs campaign done and dusted Jim is busy hoovering up the games remaining trophies. “Compared to other games, it’s fairly easy going though having to buy every vehicle and piece of clothing the game has to offer is tedious to say the least. That, and having to drive a sports car at top speed for thirty minutes.”

After that it was time to sift through his PSN downloads to find any gaming nuggets that were laying there undiscovered. “I also managed to dig up Lara Croft and Guardian of Light, courtesy of PlayStation Plus. At a distance it really doesn’t look that remarkable and I was a little apprehensive whilst waiting for it to download. However, after playing it for ten minutes I was immediately hooked and plan to finish it as soon as get the time. Hopefully we’ll this crop on the Vita at some point in the future.” Which reminds me that I’ve got it on my Xperia S and have yet to try it.

Not normally one for the little indie games that many of us here at TSA are fond of playing Jim found his resistance crumbling this week. “Something about the most recent Gamersgate Indiefort bundle caught my eye. For £2.50 I bagged myself copies of Air Buccaneers HD, A Sirius Game, and Tiny & Big: Grandpa’s Leftovers. Without touching the first two, I dove straight into the latter and what a surprise it has been. Beautifully crafted and relaxing to play, in Tiny & Big players manipulate their environment to forge the way to the next level, splicing and grappling chunks of rock to make crude paths. It’s proper good, and for 83p you’d have to be a right mug to pass it up.”

Finally, Aran is still enjoying Counter Strike: Global Offensive and particularly Arms Race mode. “My kill of the week this week was when as the last man on my team I managed to sneak up on the last 2 opponents and take them both out with my P90.”

The FIFA 13 demo has also impressed, “It feels a lot more focused and the AI worked well. I look forward to playing the full game.” He’s also been hanging out with everyone’s favourite pistol-packing witch, Bayonetta. “I have no idea what’s going on but the ridiculousness of the game is fun.”

He’s also been playing a stabby, shooty game set in a time period Peter’s proved quite knowledgeable about but he’s currently sworn to secrecy on it and under threat of becoming the victim of a targeted killing if he spills the tea in the harbour beans.

What’s the tale of your own gaming week?