[video=cX1ilzus5bIEvTHZ]

Think about it.

So I've been playing Fifa 10 lately and I'm enjoying it. My last football game was PES 2008, so this is a huge leap for me. I've been grinding through manager mode starting with the English League 1 and working my way up to Premiership.

You need to sort things out!

I'm not that bad at football games. On Fifa 10 I can usually stand the hardest difficulty against CPU controlled opponents. But online is annoying me. Defending is my weakest area, and I can dominate a match and still lose because I can't control my opponents attack. There have been two cases where I've been 2-0 up and lost 3-2.

I'm going to need a serious sit down and consider my tactics before I break the disc and smash my controller!

The whole concept of project Natal doesn't interest me in the slightest. Sure, it may be a breakthrough in terms of technology, but I'm happy with a controller. I don't want to prance around my room pretending to ride on a skateboard.

Ermmm, no thanks...

I just hope game developers don't focus all their attention on Natal. When I play a game I prefer to sit back and relax. At least with the Nitendo Wii you don't HAVE to stand up.

Sony and Microsoft's eyes have clearly been opened as they are both trying to push their way into Nintendo's market. The wii-mote doesn't do as much as it says, but casual gamers (I hate that term) think "Hey, it's like I'm actually playing tennis!", when in actual fact the same motions can be applied by just moving the wii-mote slightly.

It will be interesting (or scary) to see what the 'next-generation' of consoles will be like. Hopefully this whole motion sensing technology is just a trend which will die out soon. This isn't an attack on the Wii. I like the system, but I'm being honest, I like standard controllers...

Thought I'd try and capture this bug I found whilst playing Fallout 3: The Pitt. It won't let me progress further into the story!

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It's in black and white because the capture device I'm using doesn't support PAL-60.

So I beat Operation Anchorage last night, and I couldn't help but feel bitterly disappointed. The snowy environment combined with the invasion of Chinese communists is something that sounding very appealing.

The campaign itself is made to feel like a simulation. You receive a distress signal from an outcast organisation and they need your help to open an Armoury which is in their base. Apparently the only way to open the door is to complete a virtual simulation of a battle which took place in Alaska. You're the only one who can undertake the task as you're wearing a pip-boy, so they were lucky I stumbled in!

The guy who tells you about the task is a hostile bloke. He should have been polite as I'm risking my life to open an Armoury for him and his outcast organisation!

Anyway, you pop on a 'Neural Interface Suit' and jump into a pod which throws you into a virtual Alaska. The landscape itself is a refreshing change from the morbid colouring of the Capital Wasteland and actually looks really impressive.

The plot itself is very uninspiring. You have to take back Anchorage for the Americans, and that's basically it. You're set a number of straightforward tasks which you would find in a game such as Medal of Honour (destroy this, take that, etc). The battles are by no means large-scale. Even the final siege is disappointing.

The game play is entirely focused on combat, which is actually a bad thing because combat isn't the strongest part of Fallout 3. The enemies are very samey and the encounters with Chinese soldiers feels very…uneventful. The best approach is to act stealthy. However, that rarely works as there is usually another soldier on the look out, and many of the fights are in smaller areas.

When you finish each objective the screen fades out and you're back in the briefing room ready for the next objective, and this goes on until you reach the final mission. Before you set off you can select the types of weapons you want to take with you along with a handful of American soldiers. This is a neat concept but I would have liked to have been able to mix and match weapons rather than picking one set such as 'close quarters' 'sniper' etc.

When you finally complete Operation Anchorage you fade back to reality and congratulated by the man who was oh so rude at the beginning. You then unlock the armoury door which has a set of winter power armour (because Alaska is cold, get it?) as well as a few guns and ammunition.

Overall, I was really disappointed with Operation Anchorage. The setting of Alaska was great but was sadly accompanied by a rather dull set of missions and battles. The add-on is also very short and lasts about 4-5 hours.

Also, just thought I'd throw this in, when I finished Anchorage and was leaving the outcast base, they all snapped and started attacking me and one of the characters called 'Specialist Olin' (who is actually one of their own). I'm assuming this is just an example of a 'Bethesda Bug'?

I'm now partly through 'The Pitt', which seems pretty good so far.

My friend recently gave me a three month trial code for Love Film so I've been taking full advantage of their service. The first game I decided to rent was Batman: Arkham Asylum on the 360. I beat the main storyline a few days ago, and I have to say, the game was a pleasant surprise. The combat felt great as did the whole atmosphere of Arkham Asylum. Visually, the game looks fantastic - It's just a shame the detective mode is so tempting to use!

I managed to solve a few riddles and complete a few challenges, but I didn't enjoy that aspect of the game. The story mode was what kept me playing. The plot itself is kind of predictable at times, but I still enjoyed it nonetheless.

My next game on the rental list was Brothers in Arms: Hells Highway. I wanted this game because I remember playing the demo and really enjoying the style of game play. This morning the disc arrived which was handy as there is an achievement in the game which can only be unlocked on the 17th of September. When I opened the envelop I was stunned to see Call of Duty 3 in there. Just a couple of weeks into my love film trial and they send me a game I've played and have no interest in.

I gladly sent Call of Duty 3 back this morning and decided to now go with both Fallout 3 add-on packs instead. They can be installed to my Xbox 360's hard drive and sent straight back.

I also added Halo 3: ODST to my rental list. I had no intentions to buy this game straight away, so the Love Film trial worked out handy. I really enjoyed the single player campaign on Halo 3 so I'm looking forward to playing through ODST.

Outside of Love Film I've placed a pre-order down for Fifa 10. It's probably a game most people aren't interested in, but I for one really enjoy football games and I'm getting tired of the Pro Evolution Soccer formula. Plus I get to pick from a large selection of licensed teams and leagues.

I'm now just waiting for another RPG I can get into. I've dabbled with Oblivion again, but I've pretty much covered every pixel in that game (still a masterpiece, though). I'm interested to see how Dragon Age: Origins turns out, and Mass Effect 2 needs to come out now!

I managed to borrow a copy of Call of Duty 4 from a friend recently. Last night I beat the single player campaign and really enjoyed it. The flow of the game was excellent and I can't really re-call a bad moment. Some sections really stood out such as "All Ghillied Up" and "Heat". I just wish the campaign lasted a little longer.

I've also had the time to check out the aclaimed multiplayer which has also been fun. I was terrible at first but my skills are starting to improve. However, my Xbox Live Gold membership runs out soon...

I'm looking to replace my current graphics card which is a NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT.

Click image to enlarge

This is a screenshot from the 'System Requirements Lab'. I know it's probably not 100% accurate, but you can see how my graphics card is letting things down.

If I were to purchase a new graphics card such as this, are there any precautions I should follow? Is it just a case of taking the old card out and putting the new one in (I know you have to check the power supply).

I don't want to mess up my computer by frying it, so any help or recommendations would be appreciated...

I've had a lot of free time lately which has meant I can play more games. In total I beat three games on the 360 which left me with no more back log!

The first game I played through was The Darkness. I beat the main story pretty quickly and was more or less finished after that. The game was fun and I found the characters and story interesting. The combat was average and The Darkness powers were OK but not that great. I might go back to grab some achievements and maybe finish up some side missions, but for the moment I think I'm done with it.

The second game was Dead Space. I picked this up a few months ago but for some reason stopped playing once I reached Chapter 7. I flew through the game in around 2 days and it was a blast. I'm still trying to work out why it took me so long to complete Dead Space. The atmosphere of the game is top-notch and I found the storyline to be intriguing.

Another game I managed to finish was Half Life 2: Episode 1. Again, I really enjoyed playing through this. I went through using only the gravity gun to get the achievement (even though it was tempting to pull out a gun) and managed to beat it in a few days. Beating Episode 1 made me go back to Half Life 2 and unlock some more achievements. I forgot how good that game actually is. Next up: Half Life 2: Episode 2.

Well that's it really. I also played Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 and unlocked 27/28 achievements. That leaves one more achievement called 'Ultimate Player' which is unlocked by scoring 1000 goals (done that), played 500 games (done that) and win every league/cup (not done). I don't think I'm going to bother with that last achievement.

That's it for gaming. As you can see I've been quite busy and made use of older games without having to splash out on a brand new game. Next on the list is probably Half Life 2: Episode 2 and a replay of Mass Effect or Fable 2.

___

In other news, I'm going on holiday with my friends to Tenerife on Friday 26th June and I'll be away for a week.

Also, check out my recent interview with PJ24.

One title that I feel has been slightly overshadowed by the 'big name games' is Mafia II. My recent obsession over The Sopranos and re-watching of The Untouchables has prompted me to look further into mob related titles and my memory of this game has been refreshed.

Mafia: City of Lost Heaven (the predecessor of Mafia II) was a game I unfortunately missed out on. It's never really been banded about that much and after watching Greg Kasavin's video review I can't help but feel as if it was slightly underrated. Of course, this is coming from someone who hasn't even touched the game so maybe I'm wrong. But Greg is a trustworthy guy and his reviews were always accurate. A hefty 9.3 isn't exactly a bad score.

Is that Inspector Frost walking to the left?

I'm thinking of picking up the first game. It's not exactly a risky move considering the cheap price it's going for today. Perhaps the game has aged badly compared to today's standards, but that counts for any old game. It's like picking up Grand Theft Auto 3 after you've thrown 30+ hours into Grand Theft Auto IV.

There's something charming about the 1930/1940s setting and Mafia II could be a little gem hiding amongst the hot shots. Personally, I haven't seen much coverage regarding this game in comparison to the big names such as Halo, Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto etc. I'm looking forward to hearing more info about this game, and the recent E3 Trailer was pretty good.

Anyone else interested in Mafia II?