What We Played #117: Dropchord, Battlefield 3 and Pikmin 3

What We Played

Scampering around the continent this week I needed something eminently mobile and quick to pick up and put down.  Double Fine’s Dropchord satisfies all but the last of those requirements.  I’d heard some good things about it this past week and I’m pleased to be able to report that they were entirely appropriate.

Resembling nothing so much as a playable music visualizer, triggering pixelated memories of Geoff Minter’s Space Giraffe and adding a dash of rhythm-action gaming with its swipes, spins and taps, it’s easy to pick up and the begin the score chasing.  Stopping long enough to write a WWP post is something else though…

And while I’m happy to recommend it be warned that it is the kind of game to get your feet tapping along with your fingers.  Should you find yourself sat on a park bench in quiet, small-town southern Germany, playing it on your Nexus 7 while wearing noise-cancelling headphones, don’t be surprised to discover yourself attracting a few questioning glances from passers-by.  Hypothetically, of course.

[drop2]Our regular music maestro, Tuffcub, has been generating his own staccato beat in Battlefield 3 and was “pleasantly surprised as to just how good it is”.  “It looks fantastic and really conveys the feeling of being in a battlefield”, he says, making me wonder what he gets up to when he’s not fighting with spreadsheets or synthesizers.

Diving into Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning expecting a Skyrim-like experience the fact it’s more like “Harry Potter with beheadings” didn’t help when married to the fact that he “got a bit bored of having to constantly access menus every five seconds to equip things during the tutorial”.  That did though leave him with more time for Killzone 3, Superfrog HD (“ARRRGH!!!! Annoying!”) and Duck Tales (“AWOO-OO!”).

Aran played through Tales of Xillia and suggests that you go read his “rather long review” to find out why he liked it.  He also cautions that recent experience leads him to believe that Nintendogs does not in any way prepare you for actual puppy sitting.

Coming at his gaming with renewed vigour, helped by suddenly having more free time somehow, Peter has been playing both Splinter Cell: Blacklist and The Wonderful 101:

One is a difficult, tense stealth action game that really seems to have got a lot right and the other is a colourful, heroic caper through a cheesy script and frenetic action. Both were quite enjoyable, in different ways.

He’s also the second of our merry band to fall victim to Football Chairman over recent weeks.  “I’m doing quite well”, he reports, “guiding Belfast United to the third tier of the league system”.  With trying to build a success in Belfast let’s hope he’s got a good lookout up top checking for any of those financial icebergs that befall teams.

DanToo has “got back into God of War: Ascension and it’s bloody brilliant”.  Big thumbs up are given to the “hectic” combat and the game’s set pieces, while the “mythological creatures are just stunning to look at”. Which I think just about covers everything you’re likely to find in one of Kratos’ outings.

“If this is meant to be the worst of the series then I’ve been missing out on some great games” says Dan and I dare say many here would suggest just that.  “And I’ve bought Cloudberry Kingdom too. It’s so ducking difficult, I mean really, really hard. Stuck on the second chapter and doubt I’ll make it any further.”  He’s also played a bit of GTA IV, Football Manager 2013 and Football Chairman too.

[drop]In the inverse of Peter’s situation, Blair is finding that he has less time for gaming than he used to.  Though he is playing through The Wonderful 101 for review but is only willing to share a “great fun” at the moment.  He’s also played the “surprisingly fun” PlayStation All-Stars Island on his phone.

Dom’s been playing Pikmin 3 and some Fire Emblem as well as discovering some modern, new-fangled PlayStation Plus-powered magic.  Having picked up a new PS3 this week he quickly had it up and ready with all of his save games retrieved from the cloud and his games re-downloaded.

He believes that “it is still a huge failing of Nintendo’s that if anything happened to my Wii U or 3DS I’d probably lose everything from them – but they do seem to be learning so maybe they’ll change in the future!”  Though look what happened to Microsoft recently when they tried to bring some next-generation digital thinking to their next-generation console…

But forget the next-generation for a few minutes and tell us what you’ve been playing on your current and previous generation gaming hardware.

16 Comments

  1. Very jealous that you guys got to try out W101 this week. It looks brilliant and dripping with charm.

    As for me, I actually played a fair bit of Tomb Raider’s multiplayer mode. Its still not brilliant and I’m basically playing it to finish up the achievements, but it definitely feels more balanced now that it has been patched.

    Other than that, this week has mainly been about Saints Row The Third. Finished off the story mode and played through both endings, now its on to the activities this evening. Fun game and completely outrageous, but I must admit I am looking forward to finishing it so I can make a start on Monster Hunter 3.

  2. Been playing playstation battle royale, platinum it, making it my 32 plat not bad considering I only started caring about plats a year ago.

    Played some walking dead 400 days, it keeps crushing on me for some reason.

  3. Due to renovations in my apartment (lasting for the 4th week, I’m getting seriously tired of it) I mostly play on PSV now, as I have my TV and PS3 covered, so they do not get to much dirt on them. First I finished Thomas Was Alone – a good game, but I didn’t get the ending to be honest. The whole story after Thomas and his friends jumped into the last portal was kind of forced – the game should have ended there.
    After Thomas Was Alone I started playing MGS:HD Collection, which I got from PS+.
    MGS2 was a bit frustrating due to some controls issues (same ones which were annoying at the PS2 version and seems to have migrated 1:1), but as a whole the game is good. Finished in a couple of days.
    MGS3 on the other hand is just superb. I think it’s the best entry in the MGS series, even beating MGS1. The story, characters, gameplay mechanics, everything is top level. Great work by Kojima-san. I’m almost at the end, just after the last battle with Volgin.
    What’s next? Just should already know: MGS:Peace Walker @ PSP.

  4. Sleeping Dogs. No idea why it took me so long to buy this game, it’s exactly the kind of thing I like! Finished the majority now and just have a few bits to tidy up for the platinum. As for next week, got the choice of Bulletstorm, Medal of Hono(u)r Warfighter and Prototype 2. What would you recommend?

    • Prototype 2 is excellent and a very simple Platinum. Gets my vote.

  5. Loads of Tiny Thief, it’s brilliant!

    LBP DLC on Vita.

    Dead Space 3 Hardcore mode on PS3, only a few chapters to go.

  6. Thoroughly addicted to the new Everybody’s Golf , bought Journey at the weekend but waiting for the right time to play that one evening with the girlfriend who loved the demo.
    Before Everybody’s Golf i was hammering The Saboteur , been watching Boardwalk Empire and this game is as close as i can get to that time period . Sean Devlin is one funny guy !
    Going to check out Dropchord on my Nexus 7 today .

    • Mafia 2 is a closer fit!

      • Aye thanks Tactical , you know when i was typing that i was thinking maybe I should give that a go , i used to have the original on PC eons ago. Bet i could get it dirt cheap somewhere …

  7. Finished F.E.Z., played some Tiny Thief and jumped in and out of Animal Crossing New Leaf a few times.
    Not sure if I’ll seriously play anything until Rayman Legends comes out.

  8. LBP2 Create mode mostly. I’ve lost so much time to this game. Can’t wait for LBP3.

    I’ve been trying to rush through The Walking Dead again too so I can play the 400 Days DLC. Lost my save file when I got my new PS3 (copy protected / no cloud) and I really want to carry my decisions over from the the main game. It’s not nearly as fun the second time around.

    Also, picked up Remember Me yesterday for a decent price so if I get any free time this weekend I’ll be playing that.

  9. Been busy on playing Fallout: Las Vegas and completed it 4x and all I have left are mopping up the locations to discover and some kills with different types of weapons and to play one more playthrough from scratch on Hardcore difficulty. Also will return back to Fallout 3 as I need to complete level 20 in Neutral Karma and to collect 20 Bobbleheads.
    Started on Rayman Vita yesterday and should complete it tonight. Also played a bit of Fifa and only two trophies left despite the last trophy is glitched =/
    Also got Assassin’s Creed 3: Liberation Platinum a few days ago.

  10. I’ve been hammering Everybody’s Golf on PS3. Aside from that, myself, Forrest and OA/Wardy completed our Dead Island Riptide co-op playthrough … thoroughly enjoyable co-op experience.
    Still getting my daily fix of Animal Crossing on 3DS too.

    • Everybody’s is so damn addictive , ive yet to buy any DLC and have been sticking with Isabella and now Erika . I guess in the end i’ll have to buy those clubs when i max out the originals.
      On the Gold courses now then all those Crowns to get.

      • The club dlc is kinda pointless unless you plan on playing in a lot of online tournaments. Some of the crown requirements on the Platinum rank are ridiculously difficult (and one particular event on the silver rank), much more so than the Vita version.

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