Real world concerns have meant practically zero gaming for me this week but fortunately those in the team who aren’t off eyeing up all the buff marines on their annual pilgrimage to a tropical island have managed some video gaming.
Spec Ops: The Line has failed to impress Kris with the game feeling very generic. Â He’s still trying to get to grips with the squad command system, but is optimistic about that, and is eagerly anticipating a turning point in the story which has been widely praised.
When FPS-fatigue has set in he’s turned to Sonic Dash on his iPhone which he reckons is “really good and enjoyable, which is surprising for a Sonic game with the camera locked behind his back”. Â The only criticism being a lack of responsiveness at times.
Stefan, as some will probably already know, is off playing all the games at Gamescom. Â When I heard from him he’d been playing Battlefield 4 on the PS4 and was planning a second helping. Â He also reports that TitanFall is “rather good”.
He’s also played some God of War Ascension but got stuck on a puzzle and put that to one side while he strives to maintain his six-pack with Move Fitness.  On his PS Vita he’s been playing Open Me for our review and says, “it’s a good game, which is a shame, as I can see many people overlooking it due to the AR use”.
Peter’s gaming this week has delivered a balanced mix of good and bad news:
I’ve played The Bureau: XCOM Declassified for review, and I really enjoyed it. It plays a little fast and loose with the XCOM fiction by charting the creation of a clandestine organisation in 1962 that deals with the alien invasion. Enemy Unknown seemed to know nothing of those same aliens when they invaded in 2015 of that game.
That said, the setting and period of The Bureau is a great fit for this fiction and it plays very much like Mass Effect 3. Certainly not perfect, a little samey throughout the missions but very enjoyable nonetheless.
Unfortunately, the remake of Flashback wasn’t so successful. It’s dire. It takes all the subtlety and tension of the original 1993 game and stuffs it into the Unreal Engine with some of the worst scripting and voice acting I’ve ever experienced. An insult to the quality of the first.
Like Kris, Aran has been playing Spec Ops: The Line and his verdict of the broadly “enjoyable” game is that “it’s a decent shooter though there’s a few hard bits. Â It’s a pretty graphic experience, and I’ve ran into a tough choice already”.
[drop2]Blair has played the surprisingly long The Wonderful 101 and says that “it’s actually great fun, particularly in the latter half of the game. It’s a really original idea and I want it to sell massively, even though that’s not likely due to it being a new IP for the Wii U.”Sounds like I will be using that 30% discount I’ll get on The Wonderful 101 for already having bought Pikmin 3 from the Nintendo eShop.  Blair’s Wii U has also been exercised by Duck Tales and Pokémon Rumble U.  The latter “isn’t great but the NFC figures are a great feature”.
Because the Gamepad hasn’t been giving him that full handheld/mobile feeling he’s played more of SteamWorld Dig, which he’s been returning to long after completing the main story, and Plants Vs. Zombies 2 which is “a good distraction and quite a bit of fun”.
How about you? Â Did any of you make it to Gamescom and play anything tasty?
TSBonyman
I played seven chapters of Spec Ops The Line, not a bad shooter but i’m getting a slight sense of rinse and repeat so i probably won’t play any more of it for a bit.
I picked up a boxless copy of Resi 6 for a fiver so played a hour or so of the first character, got bored with it and then decided i wanted to try the other characters instead – but the option was gone due to my existing savegame so i just quit and left it for now.
I jumped into Half Life 2, again, and i think that will do as my ‘meaty’ game while i await for the next new release that i can sink my teeth into.
Also played the Puppeteer demo which was brilliant but too damn short, can’t wait for the full game.
On Vita i’ve mostly been trudging through Lego LotR, just so i can delete it and make room for Resistance:BS which i picked up in the sale this week.
tactical20
On holiday, so nothing except Tapped Out!
blast71
Batman Arkham City, which is great, and still on Pixeljunk Shooter2, which is also great, but I’m currently stumped on a level. Plus the usual few hours of PES2013 Master League.
Wardy-77-
I’ve been battering Saints Row 3 since midweek and finally got the platinum this afternoon,Nicely in time for Saints Row 4 which dropped through the post box on yesterday,so i will be starting that soon also had a go of the Puppeteer demo which is lovely looking and a quick blast on the Bit trip runner 2 demo,which i shall be purchasing the full version soon i think.
XisTG
I’ve been on a mission to clear my backlog in anticipation of the PS4. So far, I haven’t had much luck.
I decided that I’m not going to force myself to play a game if i’m not thoroughly enjoying it, regardless if I paid for it or if it came free with PS+
I just stopped playing GTA4 a couple of minutes ago. I had never played one, and although it might have been great when it originally came out, it hasn’t caught my attention. The story is moving at a slow pace, and I find myself doing the same thing over and over again: drive (or call a taxi), shoot someone, go to the next mission. It also doesn’t help that the driving is crap, as is the shooting and fighting mechanics. There have been some good moments, yes, and Niko delivers some funny lines, but overall its just not that exciting. I admit though, that GTA5 will probably be more up my alley, as the gameplay trailers suggest that is is much more refined. For 2013, at least.
Crysis 2 was another game that I quickly deleted from my HDD; maybe it was because I didn’t play the first one, but it seemed kind of bland once you play it for a couple of hours.
I did finish Ni no Kuni, although at the end it became more of a chore than anything else. I liked the game, and the art style is really something, but I would go as far as giving it a 10/10 as most reviews did.
Three down, 30 something to go!
XisTG
*wouldn’t go as far as
McProley
Been playing some Dead space 3 again earlier on the week with mr Youles. We are closing in fast on the plat now. I also played some more Kindoms of Amalur until i found out that I’d run into the gaming breaking glitch where you can’t progress thew main quest any more. This happening after 80+ hours it so i wasnt best pleased at all! Replayed Thomas Was Alone on Vita and also some more Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes on iPhone. They seriously need to bring a sequel of that to Vita
salvodaze
Finally finished the last bit left on Thomas Was Alone on the Vita. While I appreciated the simplicity and cute storytelling, I think the controls were’nt the best and the game was too easy. Still a bit of fun though, now I must find those extra trophies…
Played some Lego LOTR on the Vita as well, despite the looks and weirdish camera, it plays alright. But it’s no Lego Batman yet, in my opinion anyway.
And more BL2 and Animal Crossing as usual. I seem to be a little bored of AC these days, might switch to Layton for a while. But Layton’s like a dessert I want to save for the last, so might keep it for cold winter nights.
I find myself craving Hitman: Absolution or Far Cry 3, I must be missing my PS3 which I don’t have here with me.
KeRaSh
Guacamelee (awesome game), New Super Mario Bros 2 (can be frustrating in Coop…) and some Stealth Inc. (had higher expectations…) and now I’m not sure what to play until Rayman Legends comes out.