Stuff that I done played

So I haven’t been playing anything majorly seriously as of late, but I thought it’d be fun to talk about what I’ve been fiddling around with online. Plus, nothing from E3 this year has inspired me to write about it. Or care very much.

*Yaaaaaaaaawn*.

Zombie Lane



You might be familiar with Zombie Lane if you played it on Facebook, as I did. You play as an average suburbanite who’s town has been overrun with zombies, and with the help of Rob the Rent A Cop you must rebuild your home, rescue your spouse and faithful canine companion, and clean out the zombie menace!

This time around, Zombie Lane is now on iPhone and Android, so you smack zombies in the face with shovels on the go. It works quite nicely on a phone, although it is a little too small for the action. You can zoom in, but to be honest I often find the zoom just doesn’t zoom far enough. Other than that though, I’m enjoying it so far. It’s fairly simple to progress in the game and it doesn’t beat you over the head with the social aspects of the game. Nice. Plus, it looks as if there will be expansions coming very soon.

Triple Town



I can’t remember if I’ve talked about this before, but I’m going to. Again. Maybe.

Triple Town is another Facebook game (also available on iPhone and Android) that takes the ‘matching three’ gameplay mechanic made famous by games like Bejeweled and turns it on its head. Your mission is to create the largest town you can within a set space, combining items to make bigger and better items. Three clumps of grass make a bush, three bushes make a tree, three trees make a house, and so on.

The problem is there are bears. Angry, angry bears. They will invade your town, terrorize your citizens and make life generally unpleasant. The trick is to trap them, turning them into gravestones. Collect three gravestones and you have a church! Yay!

It sounds simple but it is dangerously addictive. I strongly suggest you check it out.

inFAMOUS 2



Ok, I’m not sure this counts, but I finished the game last week and I thought I’d share a couple of thoughts.

One: For once, I would like to see the magical macguffin thing die already. I know it’s very difficult to build a video game without having something tangible the player has to work towards, but come on already! inFAMOUS is really bad for it. ‘You must have this many doodads before you can activate the macguffin.’ MEH.

Having said that, I’d like to comment on the story and ending. I played through the good storyline, so I’m not sure how the Evil line differs (although I’m sure Youtube could tell me). However, I was really impressed with the characterisation put in for everyone you have meaningful interactions with. By the end of the game you really do care about everyone involved, which does make a few decisions by the end that much harder to make. The ending too shocked me in how much it got to me.

Nice work Sucker Punch, next time more of the awesome writing and less of the clichéd mechanics, ta.

Every Day the Same Dream



There’s not much I can say about this game without ruining it. You may well have already played it, but if not, I HIGHLY suggest you do so. For a free web game, it really does tell quite a compelling story. You do have to think while playing it though, which might put some people off, but hey ho.

Infamous 2: First Impressions

In my tradition of playing games about a million years after they come out, I’ve finally got around to playing Infamous 2. I did rather enjoy Infamous, although I think a lot of that was due to the fact that it was a free download after the PSN hacking extravaganza. With that in mind, is the sequel living up to the predecessor?

Story

Carrying straight on from the ending of the last game, the legendary Beast rocks up to Empire City, takes a kicking from Cole McGrath, then gets so offended he blows the entire city up in retaliation. Cole, best mate Zeke and new girl Kuo run away on a boat and end up in New Marais (which is NOT New Orleans), where The Militia are making life difficult for everyone.

It’s all ok, but it does a bit like a retread of the last game. Here are the evil dudes, blow them up, here are some bigger dudes, blow them up too, now go electrify some stuff. Agent Kuo does feel a bit like she’s been inserted purely because they were lacking a female character. Maybe she’ll come into her own later, but... we’ll see.

Missions

Again, this is kind of same old, same old. You still have your story missions, then your ‘good’ or ‘evil’ side quests. The missions are even reminiscent of the last game’s ones. Take some photos. Break up gangs of Militia. Collect medical supplies. Yeah yeah yeah, whatever.

In fairness, there is the option to play user created missions, but seeing as PSN is being mardy and not accepting my password to log in (EVEN THOUGH IT IS THE RIGHT PASSWORD AND I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL HULK SMASH EVERYTHING) I haven’t been able to play them. Once I get it fixed I’ll report back.

Exploration

This is what Infamous 2 does well. This time around you can still climb up any building you fancy, flying around on your electric hand jetpack thing or grinding along powerlines as you please. Plus, they’ve included some cool buildings for you to scale, including a whacking great cathedral.

Also, there are mini missions dotted around as you explore the city. Depending on your bias (good or evil), you can stop muggings, defuse bombs, attack police and break up protests against you. They show up on your HUD randomly and it does feel organic, as if you’re stumbling across the events. I like it.

Combat

Still the same, but it’s still good. Cole can shoot electricity from his hands, throw bombs, push enemies back with a shockwave, and now he can summon up ‘ionic storms’ that create tornadoes that sweep up everything in their path. All these attacks still rely on his personal supply of electricity, which can be replenished by draining any nearby electrical object. I’ve always liked that, though, because you’re never far from a streetlamp or something, meaning the flow is rarely interrupted.

The enemies require you to think tactically. Storming in guns blazing rarely goes down well. Instead, it’s better to hang from the rooftops, picking enemies off one by one till there’s a small manageable group for you to go in and attack face to face. Then there are the odd kamikaze enemies, who explode on contact to take you out with them. Trying to take them on from ground level is suicidal.

I AM enjoying it, despite how these first impressions sound; it’s just all a bit samey. I’ve only heard good things about the ending though, so maybe it’ll get better. Let’s hope so, anyway...

Games I'm excited about RIGHT NOW

Well, it’s summer. I could write a proper post this week, but let’s be honest, it’s hot. And I don’t do well in the heat. Instead, I’m just going to dribble about all the games I want to play. Sorry about that.

Alice: Madness Returns



Now, I’ve never played the original Alice game, but that’s why I’m interested in the sequel. As you’re probably aware, the PS3 version of Madness Returns comes with a code that enables the player to download the original game for free. Why yes, I would like bit of that.

I’ve heard mixed reviews but the game sounds right up my street. A dark, twisted version of the Alice in Wonderland story? Yes, please! I’ll bet any amount of money it kicks the arse of the recent Tim Burton version too. Johnny Depp in clown makeup is no match for the face melting horror shown in the trailers. Must play.

Bioshock: Infinite



I think you already know my feelings about the Bioshock universe, so I could just shout ‘OH MY GOD WHY ISN’T IT OUT YET I NEED IT IN MY EYES!!’, but that would be lazy of me. Lazier, anyway.

What I like most about the idea is that 2K have obviously thought that ok, people love Bioshock and they could have kept cranking out sequels based in Rapture for years, but it would have grown stale very quickly and the fans would have tired of it. Instead, they’ve kept what was good about the games and set it somewhere completely new.

Now, we get to explore an entirely new environment and grapple with different moral dilemmas, all the while enjoying the same excellent gameplay we had before. Ok, it does sound like ‘plonk Rapture somewhere else, make new game’, but I don’t think it will be. One of the strongest aspects of the franchise is it’s writing, so hopefully we’ll be given an entirely new experience. Next year can’t come fast enough.

Catherine



I mentioned in my E3 post that I was kind of interested in this game. The first I’d heard of it was when it’s mad special edition was announced, a special edition that came packed in a pizza box and contained, among other things, a pair of boxer shorts. Ok, I thought. That’s pretty weird, but that’s Japan for you. Then I moved on with my life.

Then I saw the E3 coverage and actually realised it was a block puzzle game with what looks to be a rather compelling storyline. Of course, there’s all the oddness with the sheep milling everywhere, and the crazy giant demon babies trying to attack you, but hey, Japan. It’s what they do.

It’s out in Japan and the US now but there’s been no European release date announced yet. It is coming here, though. At least, I hope it. Please?

Shadows of the Damned



Let’s be honest, I only want to play this because of it’s ridiculously amazing pedigree. With developers who previously worked on titles such as Killer 7 and Devil May Cry (as well as working for Clover Studios, who made that epic slab of wonderment Okami), and the music from the brain behind the Silent Hill soundtracks, it should be epic.

I haven’t been able to play test it yet, but I’ve heard from reliable sources on the net that the difficulty is insane. But then, we’re talking about the people who made Devil May Cry. Why are we surprised? I foresee a lot of screaming at the TV in my future.

inFAMOUS 2



Yeah, I know, I’m still working my way through the first one. It may feature an incredibly bland hero, despite the fact he can SHOOT LIGHTENING FROM HIS HANDS, and be set in Generic City 101, but it’s just pulled me in enough to interest me in playing more.

That is, of course, if I can get past that stupid gas cloud balloon mission. It is ridiculous and unnecessary. Grr.