I'm creating a list of games I am yet to complete (story mode wise), games I want and games I have sworn to Platinum.

Game story/career modesyet to complete:

Dead Rising 2. AC Brotherhood. Fallout New Vegas. The Saboteur. Singularity (though I'll have to buy that), F1 2010, FIFA 11.

Games I will Platinum/get 100% on:

AC Brotherhood, Fallout New Vegas, Batman AA, F1 2010, Dead Rising 2.

Games I want:

Mass Effect 2, Dead Rising 2, LA Noire, Uncharted 3, Demon Souls, The Last Guardian.

This is my promise. I will complete as much as this list as possible before the 31st December 2011. However, I'll probably get bogged down with new games, making my quest futile.

Single Player:

I've played a few levels of the SP and I have to say I'm quite impressed. The story is justbetter than MW2's and seems more believable. Well, I suppose you could put that down to the Cold War being the inspiration, which is great as the Cold War is an interesting time. Hardened should probably be the default setting for experienced CoD players if you want a challenge. Go Veteran if you want high blood pressure. There are a couple of bits where your left to work out what you need to do but I reckon that adds to the game, as no one is holding your hand. Stressful, yes. More rewarding? yes.

Multiplayer:

No doubt that this is where the comparisions will be made/

Better than MW2? In my opinion, yes. As well as the traditional game modes there are also wager matches. In this you bet your CoD Points (points you earn during online play) in 4 different modes. These being:

Sharpshooter - In this you get given a random gun but the twist is that every 45 seconds your weapon will switch to something else. Keeps a level playing field.

Sticks and Stones - A crossbow, a ballistic knife and a combat knife. Those are the only weapons avaliable to you for this game mode.

One in the Chamber - One bullet, 3 lives. You have a pistol and your knife. You only have one bullet per life.

Gun game - Start with a basic gun, earn killstreaks to get better guns.

Plus, add in the fully customisable emblems and a set of maps that are well designed, you will get hours of enjoyment. Also, bored of the in game challenges? Buy a contract and set your own challenge.

The multiplayer in Black Ops offers a lot more and helps you keep the game varied and with the added bonus of letting you add a personal touch to your emblem and your guns, Black Ops just caters to a wide audience. I spent ages trying to come up with my emblem and I will continue doing so.

All in all Black Ops just offers a better all round experience and Treyarch have a done a bang up job.

I finally have my first ever Battlefield game and I love it. Do I love it more than MW2? Let's find out.

Campaign Mode:

As Battlefield BC2 is the first ever Battlefield game I have played I wasn't sure how I would feel. After all the likes of Captain Price, Gaz/Ghost, Soap and Roach made a big impact on me due to their characters. Sure Roach never spoke but he was cool. However, the Bad Company guys seem to have a lot more personality. There's banter between the characters and that makes the whole experience seem much more real. I feel closer to Bad Company than I do to the MW2 guys.

The level designs are obviously different in both games but each have their fair share of "OMG WOW!" moments. Set pieces that just fit right into the action. Where MW2 has serious set pieces, BFBC2 has more tongue in cheek ones. MW2 made me say "Wow." out loud while BFBC2 set pieces made me laugh, in a good way, though BFBC2 has set pieces that also made me go "Wow".

Multiplayer Mode:

These days multiplayer can make or break a game, It has to be executed perfectly for the fans to want to support the series and both MW2 and BFBC2 do that, though in different ways. MW2 is a much more gung ho, lone wolf style of multiplayer, even in the tactical games. The majority of players just want a lot of kills regardless of the whole team's performance.

On the other hand BFBC2 has a more steady, slower multiplayer. You can't really go lone wolf on this and I like that. I know if I going to plant a charge I have someone watching my back, be it a guy with an assault rifle in the room with me or a sniper, hidden and picking off enemies coming towards me. I will always return that favour. Plus the amount of times, team mates revived me when I was down was almost crazy. After years of playing online FPS's where people look out for themselves, this was a breath of fresh air and I felt like I was part of a real team with a real objective.

So, who wins?

It's a toughie but if we're taking the overall package then Battlefield Bad Company 2 takes it because of the multiplayer. I like the teamwork, the large maps, the vehicles and having an actual goal that the whole team is working together to acheive.

This gen is the multiplayer gen (apart from PC's..they've been doing it longer). Okay so state the obvious, right? This is the console generation where everyone can play everyone else. The generation where you can swear at someone halfway round the world.

Then why am I bored? Why does mutliplayer no longer grab me? I have a theory or two.

MW2. Okay so it's not fair to blame one game for my apathy but it has just become so samey. Jump into match, kill people, defend/attack objective, die. Rinse and repeat. Maybe I should try something else like MAG or BF:BC2. Maybe that'll help me renew my love for online gaming.

Even the RUSE Beta hasn't really grabbed me, but then again my laptop can't run it properly so that may be why.

Do you think you have the answer to solve my apathy? Go on then.

When I was a little boy, two companies fought for my attention. These companies were Nintendo and Sega. To anyone who was born after 1995, you will never know the ultimate Console Wars. These were deadly with both companies attacking each other in public, not like now where companies put on friendly faces then stab each other in the back. This was all out War!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlulSyBI2aY&feature=related

I mean watch that ad! Sega outright attacked Nintendo. Do Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo do this? No, because they don't have the cojones!

Sega. You used to be King of this industry. Now you're Nintendo's b1tch?! What is this madness?! If my 7 year old self came to the future, he would walk up to your offices and slap all of you in the faces then have a tantrum in the lobby. Do you want that Sega? Do you want the 7 year old to throw a tantrum? Because I will invent a time machine to make it happen.

Do you know what you need to do Sega? Create a new console. I already have an idea and a marketing campaign to boot. I've done like half the work already. Build Sega. Build. I want to sit down one day, watch TV, see the screen go black then watch as flashes of Old Sega games appear in the background one at a time while the in the foreground you chart Sega's previous hardware. Then the screen goes white and then we hear, what every Sega fanboy longs to hear. We hear the words "Seeeeeeeeegaaaaaaaaa!" And underneath those words, Resurrection.

Yes Sega. Your new console will be called the Sega Resurrection and it will smite all competition!

So. Winter means long nights in to stay away from the cold, the ever damning cold. Do you know what Winter also means? Well according to dictionary.com it means:

"the cold season between autumn and spring in northern latitudes (in the Northern Hemisphere from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox; in the Southern Hemisphere from the summer solstice to the autumnal equinox)."

Well, dictionary.com, you're only half right! Winter also means excessive gaming and the expenses that comes with it. Do you know how many games I have bought in the last 2 weeks? Four! Four games which I can't afford to buy but Winter forces this on me, on all of us. So what games did I buy without consulting my money fund? The list and it's mini rating comes below.

AC2:

I believed the hype and on this rare occasion, the hype was right, oh so right. Travelling through various locations in Italy and having all sorts to do with a well told story has made me happy. But, the game demands I do everything I possibly can for it and now I am hunting the trophies...

Don't look at me!

Now, the trophies seem relatively easy but they're taking time. Time I do not have! I have to do things but every time I hear that little ding as another trophy is gained I am forced to go on. Damn your relatively easy trophies AC2.

The Saboteur:

Now, this game has divided opinions. Some hate it for the fact that you fight in the French Resistance as an Irishman. Some think it takes a dark part of history (the occupation of France by the Nazi's) and makes it seem silly. Do you know what I say? It's a game that was made by Pandemic, the final game made by Pandemic (RIP Pandemic), makers of other non serious titles such as Mercenaries and Mercenaries 2. The whole point of Pandemic's games were to take situations and blow them to silly proportions. Also The Saboteur is a beautiful game especially in the areas where the Nazi's are powerful with it's noir-esque take of the occupation, a new element added to the open world roamer. I love The Saboteur, but damn some trophies are time consuming.

InFamous:

Yes I only just recently bought this game, long after everyone else. Well to that I say, I got an awesome game at half the original retail price (Yay Recession spending). And it is awesome. I love the feel of it, the freedom to run around and the fact the game thought I was so good during the early part that the average difficulty I should face was Hard. I'm just that awesome at gaming. I like the subtle changes that occur in Empire City and the characters depending on my actions. I feel like I have control of this city and isn't that everyone's dream? To inspire fear or hope in the population? Why yes, yes it is.

Football Manager 2010:

AKA The Most Stress Inducing game known to man. You too can now risk cardiac arrest as you watch your team tumble down the league table or ecstatic joy that may border on sexual as you watch your team win the cup final and every emotion in between. The game, at the moment, is toying with my emotions making me lose match after match and then giving me hope when I win a match before I continue a new running of losses. And yet I still go back, craving a win hoping my new formation will work and I can surprise the opponents tactically. I will beat you FM2010. I vow it here...

Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!

I have just completed Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and I'm not going to lie, I think this is the greatest, most beautiful game ever created. If Uncharted 2 were a woman I would make love to her forever. Uncharted 2 is the only game I have ever bought on release date and I do not regret parting with my money at all.

We have a contender for Game of The Year, nay, Game of the Decade, nay, Game of the Century. which at this point in time would also make it Game of the Decade due to being in the first decade of a new century but I digress, if this game does not get more awards for best game, best action sequences, best script, best voice acting, best environment, best soundtrack and a whole lot more then I will eat my book collection, and I have a large book collection.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is, in my opinion, the first true game I could use as an example as why games are now on par, and this case, surpass a lot of hollywood movies. Hell Uncharted 2 should win the Oscar for best motion picture.

/mancrush.

Batman has pretty much become the greatest game of all time and I'll tell you why. I've only played the demo so far but I loved it.

Usually game developers, well the ones that take us gamers seriously, strive to make the best game they can hoping to get an 8 or 9 out of 10 and in rare cases the full 10. Any dev would love to see this score next to their game:

100%

But not Batman. Not content with having critics putting the game up for game of the year, Batman and Eidos have seen that 100% mark and said we can do better. Well they did. Today it was confirmed on gamerankings.com that Batman: Arkham Asylum scored a whopping...Are you honestly sure you'll be able to handle the number? Yes? Well it got...

126.54%

That batarang is about to be thrown at number limits. Take that math!

Yeah so now I'm convinced to buy the greatest game of all time and will do as soon as my student loan comes through.

Gamers. What are we? How does mainstream society see us? Some see us as normal people with a hobby, some see us as recluses who hardly go out and then there are the select few who believe us to be sociopaths who's vision of reality and virtual has all but been destroyed. They believe we'll go out one day and happily run over people for a laugh. If you are considering this option, go talk to someone.

Anyway, the biggest of these voices is mostly felt by our American bretheren. The voice of Jack Thompson. He sees the bare minimum of games and believes that they all advocate mindless violence and sex. Unfortunately, Mr Thompson has quite a lot of support from the ignorant.

"I love the smell of burning gamers in the morning." - Jack Thompson

The Image of Ignorance

This is a public throwdown by me, a dedicated gamer to all those who see us as nothing but sociopaths bent on destruction and see the devs as nothing but monsters who destroy society. I'm going to take 2 popular games, Bioshock and GTA IV, and show why we gamers aren't heartless SOB's.

Actually before I continue, I know some of you will be thinking this is stupid, too little too late etc. Well I say we have to be louder than those who criticise usand beat them with rational thought before they beat us with mass ignorance.

Bioshock

Possibly the best game of this gen, Bioshock did not escape Jack Thompson's straw clutching hands. Did he pick up and play the game? Of course not, that would go against everything he stood for. Why did he have a go at BioshocK? It's TV Ad. Yes folks, Mr Thompson judged a whole game based on this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoYorK3E4aM&feature=related

Sure it's a violent ad, but why did Mr Thompson have a go at it? It aired during a show that a lot of teenagers watched. What was that show? WWE's Smackdown...You know, that thing where real people beat each other up, well supposedly anyway. Yes, Bioshock is more dangerous than the image of real people hitting each other. Well Jack, here's a free lesson on Bioshock.

Bioshock is technically ****d as a FPS (First Person Shooter, for you Jack and supporters). Is that the end of it? No way. This game is one of the many that requires the player to think of their actions, question their morality and ethics in a world where ethics and morality do not exist. Just watch the interaction between a Big Daddy and a Little Sister. You can genuinely feel the care both have for each other and you have to destroy that relationship by destroying the Big Daddy. Then another choice comes in, do you save the Little Sister or destroy her. For some this is a quick decision, others take their time as the Little Sister struggles to come to terms with the death of the Big Daddy.The overall theme of the game is about consequences of your actions and you learn to deal with them.

GTA IV:

Grand Theft Auto IV is the gravest assault upon children in this country since polio. - Jack Thompson.

Ouch. Once again a stinger from Mr Thompson who has crippled the gaming world forever. Oh wait, no it hasn't. GTA seems to be the series that Mr Thompson loves to hate because all you do is kill people. Yeah, there's no mature story behind all the chaos. GTA IV was especially hated by Thompson and his supporters. Forget the themes of loyalty, trying to escape the past and oh, once again morality. There are numerous chances in the game to let someone live and let someone die. We watch as Niko (he's the protagonist Jack, another free lesson for you) arrives in the US and becomes embroiled in the underworld of crime so he can survive. He goes up in this world, always fighting himself as violence takes over his life, something he hates. He wants a way to escape this world and the game is a journey on how he tries to do it.

However, GTA IV = Polio. One a life changing virus that can leave the infected paralysed and the other is a game meant for those over 18 or at least those with a mature mindset. At least with the 2nd option we know Mr Thompson meets one of the requirements.

I propose that in this public forum, someone of the anti gaming league debate with me. Above I have listed to examples where games make the player think about their actions. I wait for a mature response from an anti gaming protester....

...However I'm not holding my breath.

This post will obviously contain spoilers.

James or as you know him, Dad. Well that's how you would know him if you've ever played Bethesda's Fallout 3. He is often referred to as a bit creepy ("Hello honey" ring any bells) and he is one of the last people you would expect to survive The Capital Wasteland. However this blog post will make you respect your game based father a lot more than you did.

1. He went from Rivet City to Vault 101 with a newborn baby.

Look at that picture. That, ladies and gentlemen, is The Capital Wasteland and it's an unforgiving place to anyone who travels on it. How many times have you wandered that place, with very few supplies, hoping you'll make it to the next settlement or at least find a location where you can rest? If you're anything like me, that's a heck of a lot of times. However our worries pale in comparison to what dear old James faced.

Imagine you're playing that now but with an added bit where you have a baby with you all the time. If you haven't realised, babies are not useful in battle or for anything else while travelling across a nuclear wasteland. Chuck in the fact you have to feed a baby, change a baby and make sure it gets enough sleep and you've got something more useless than Dogmeat. James did it. He crossed the Wasteland, he fought Raiders, while carrying a baby (well that's how my mind sees it) and he won. Suddenly James isn't a quirky scientist, he's the Rambo of the wasteland.

2. He fights Super Mutants.

Okay, this one is more of an assumption but bear with me. Do you remember when you go to the Jefferson Memorial during the quest Scientific Pursuit? Do you remember how many Super Mutants were walking around that place? Remember that was the last location your Dad was known to have gone to? Of course it is the location of his old lab and he worked there before you were born and he probably had to deal with Super Mutants then. Nope, the Brotherhood of Steel protected him to continue his work. Basically this time, he went there without any support from the Brotherhood of Steel and their awesome array of weapons. This is how I envision it to have gone down:

James walks to the Jefferson Memorial and is instantly attacked by a group of Super Mutants. They start shooting at him with their rifles, but James has no time for this. He runs up to the first Super Mutant and rips the gun fom its hand before blasting it in the face. Without pausing he turns and kills every other Super Mutant surrounding him. Now he must enter the main building which is crawling with Super Mutants. He kicks the door in and instantly kills the first Super Mutant he sees. Another runs towards him, but James jumps and does a backflip over the Mutants head before blasting it to a million pieces. He then enters his lab and sees the the remaining Mutants and goes all biology on their behinds by showing them their own brains. At the end of the encounter, he says "Time to get back to work."

Yeah, James strolled into the Jefferson Memorial, kicked Mutant behind, made a few notes and recordings about the equipment and left. All in a days work for Doctor James.

3. He sacrifices himself for all of Humanity.

Question time. If you could save the whole of humanity by dying, would you? There's only been one claim to that before and that was from a guy called Jesus. You may have heard of him. James' mission was just to provide clean, drinkable water for everyone and he was so close to doing it. Enter the Enclave. The damn Enclave. Words cannot describe it. Just watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oQQfkhRmDM

He doesn't even do it in a dramatic fashion. He just tells you to run as if you were in a race and then dies. Would you still be that calm and collected when you were faced with certain death? I'm going to say no and if you say Yes, I will want proof otherwise your claim is a downright lie.

4. He's voiced by Liam f'ing Neeson.

That's right Liam f'ing Neeson. Are you voiced by Liam Neeson? I didn't think so. Your whole life just became insiginificant compared to James, who is voiced by Liam Neeson. In fact it makes any point you make invalid.