So I recently checked back over some old games, namely the Sega Genesis having recently discovered one in our attic! I am most pleased as I can now hook up my Sega CD as well and go back to my childhood gaming wise, along with my Amiga A1200.

Then it came to my attention that I also have a copy of Zombies Ate My Neighbours (simply named Zombies in the UK) Which I hold 2 world records on!

The records held are for fastest completion in 2hrs 35 mins (i know it can be done faster than this but with my playing style this is what I did) And the highest score 604,510 (Which short of farming is as good as it gets for me)

I am very proud of these records and they are officially recognised so a happy achievement for me.

So now we head back to Andrei you know the blacksmith next to the cathedral? And then head past him (Or collect arrows I was amazed how many I needed her. My bow was +5 but the short bow doesnt have the power needed) Anyways in the room came my first real hint of threat. The Titanite Demon, big, headless packing lightening and horror. Run like hell to the right hand side behind the brick pile he can throw lightening all he likes but he wont get you. Then duck out and stick an arrow in him and then hide once more.

Never really sure if the risk was worth the reward but he fell anyways. And as long as wehavethe crest of Artorias we are all set to easy farm & level up. The first thing I noted about the Darkroot Garden is the sheer level of detail, lots of shadow and colour gradients.

And a new enemy they're walking trees? Lmao great for the imagination not good for ones health if they get too close. Fireball em!! Past four of them to locate a bonfire and a door. The crest goes in the door and we have a nice farming spot.

Also a covenant in here. Another trophy I may add. But not what we are really here for, it all helps though use the farming spot to up your stats. I did and I was thankful for it.

== Vit = 20 -Att = 11 -End = 20 -Str = 17 -Dex = 15 -Res = 10 -Int = 10 -Fai = 11 == Were about my stats once I'd done.

Now head down the path just inside the farming point and there's a fog gate at the bottom. Careful going through here stick to the wall on the right and you'll find anoher gate. You should be human here too so you can summon the help just inside behidn a bush. Head up the stairs and meet another boss the Butterfly.

Not a hard battle really just stick to Soul Arrow or the bow and you'll be fine as you phantom will do most or all of the damage. Once he falls head to the other tower to get a few items and then head back to the Bonfire before heading back to Andrei give him the divine ember and if you have the winged spear get it to +5 so you can turn it into a Divine Spear helpful for later.

You should also not that in this area before the boss is a corpse you can loot for an armour set that would be VERY helpful shortly. But to get to it you have to go through several Stone Knights.

They're tough but none too hard just draw them out 1 by 1 and then hit them with either Pyro or a solid weapon like the Drake Sword.

OK so recently got my urge back to play a sports management game, I've dabbled with Championship Manager 93 and Championship Manager Italia 95 for many years though now reduced to an emulator to get it to run. (My Amiga Hd recently died so that sucked)

Anyway I bought a copy of FIFA Manager 12 and loaded it up to begin playing, the first thing I noticed was the sheer volume of the game, this game is so detailed you can even have a personal life now.

So I picked a team thats nice and low I chose Hinckley Utd.

I never have been good with the finance side of these games but I'm doing OK for the moment. The reason I chose Hinckley Utd is simply they actually hold a significant portion of sentimental value my 19th Birthday Party was actually held at the old grounds club house. So we had alot of fun.

Now I've had a rather dismal season so far, hit with several key injuries, but seems to be stable for the moment.

With these standings and various injuries I hope to at least make the play offs this year, and hopefully keep my job,

I never bother with job offers from other clubs I actually want to try and take Hinckley all the way to the Premier League if I can.

Though I am now signitficiantly further along you will have to go see the other blog to follow my progress.

OK so we left off with me heading into the Undead Parish another stunning level full of all kinds ofnasties,firstlybeen a rather huge freaking Boar which repeatedly had me dead, so I took things slower knocking off the bad guys one at a time then runninglikehell past the Boar.

Been able to slip past I found a stunning looking Cathedral and swiftly a Black Knight who almost had mebutwith patience I was able to put him down. Patience is key in these games REMEMBER THIS. Not my usual smash and run style in this project. Stillpatienceis key I learned early on.

So I slipped off to the right to find a Bonfire & A Black Smith, very usefully I reinforce my weapons a little more attack power is always handy. Its a path well travelled as I head down a flight of stairs and am greeted by a huge Titanite Demon, yea don't have the ability to deal with this guy just yet, I'll come back for him. (After I take a trip to retrieve the Short Bow from the merchant).

So now I get back to the Cathedral after a quick trip to see some guy tentatively referred to as the 'Onion Man' Don't ask I didnt lol. Anyways into the Cathedral I go and am attack by another Black Knight, draw hinm into the outside so I have more room and deal with him before heading in to claim the treasure he was protecting.

Fire Keepers Soul

(Quick Side Note : Devils Inc 2012 Blog has pics too)

So with a Firekeepers Soul in hand I make my back to the Firelink Shirne the woman in the cave/cage there will make the Ester Flasks much more helpful.

Strange Woman

Now I head back to the Undead Parish and again force my way through, at least I had theshort cutelevator to help the trip though.

Now I head upstairs and am greeted by a mob of zombie things and a chaneller great thanks for that. After more patience they fall and I swiftly clean up the area before running headlong into a skeleton cape guy thankfully fireball puts him away and I head upstairs to free Knight Lautrec.

Free Lautrec - though latr on you will wish you hadn't lol

Now I head back down cross thehallwayand up a couple of ladders to discover a new sign, a summoning sign no less. See I told you Solaire would be helpful. I step through the fog and begin the boss battle. Damn BellGargoyles, I spend the first few attempts getting one of the tails for the Gargoyle Axe weapon. That done I promptly begin to hammer them and …. DIEOh well a quick reverse hollowing and I head back up. (Only human form can summon NPC help)

After 2 or 3 more attempts I'm able to put him down, I also learn when you egt 1 to 50% his friend shows up. Solaire is help the thunder spell he has is so useful in keep the first Gargoyles attention.

Gargoyles

So once these guys fall its back down the laddr to meet a monk or priest of some kind.

Salvation

I don't remember what I bought but with 20,000 souls in hand I headed back to Andrei (The blacksmith from earlier) and bought the crest ofAstoria(we'll go back to this later) I also stock up on arrows, now I head back to Firelink via the nice new elevator short cut in the Cathedral. And after a restock of Ester flasks. SO now we're off to Undead Burg again with Basement key in hand we can access the shiny new lower burg area.

OK so I started Dark Souls having got myself the Plat on Demon Souls I was most proud of this and I know I can do it again! So the game is gorgeous the response is very fast it has bugs and crashes (Has done on me twice to this point)

But I started in the Undead Asylum (As well do) Then cleared out the Firelink Shrine a couple of times to get some decent soul level. Then I headed off to the Undead Burg and promptly progressed through not really hard if you take it easy and stay patient. (Dont forget the Lizard on the second floor of the Taurus Demon Tower) After three or four attempts I was able to put down the Taurus Demon, I found the trick to be stay close and roll through his sweeping style attack. Also dropping from the tower takes a nice chunk of his health as well.

Sadly no boss trophy they are saved for bigger and badder foes. Then a quick chat with Solaire of Astoria (I understand he proves useful later) I head over a bridge and amunknowinglyattacked by a huge mean looking red dragon (Almost died too) So run down the first exit I see a flight of stars in the middle. Thankfully going further down reveals a ladder and a short cut back to those oh so helpful bonfires.

So I head back up the new short cut ladder and through a hole in the wall, under the dragon crossing a rather ominous looking bridge and I spot his tail not been able to resist I promptly dispatch the foes trying to kill me then fire several arrows into him using my crossbow (I collected it from the archer earlier on I believe, Should have picked up the Short bow from the Merchant guy, I did this later but not at this point) I promptly receive a Drakes Sword and it QUICKLY becomes my best friend. I will deal with the Wyvern later (Damn 1.05 patch prevents low yield users killing him just yet)

Now a new foe I find darn rats they gang up and can inflict poison, so a quick trip back to the bonfire then I make waybackthis time taking my time using my bow to lure the rats 1 by 1. Now I head through and up into the new area.

So I recently picked up Dark Souls, having got my hands on Catherine I have to say I was sorely dissappointed :-( Anyway I promptly popped Dark Souls into the drive and havent moved it out the drive since.

The game is of similar stance to Demon Souls which yes is to be expected but my god it's visually stunning, the controls are grand once again and the gameplay is engaging, it's harder than its predecessor but that was to be expected. But I am once again aiming for a nice solid Plat.

On a more positive note from me, I was able to finally gain myself my 5th Platinum trophy this is for the double hard Demon Souls, the game took me around 160 hours, and 4 full runs through the game, due to a miscalculation I had to at least start a 5th run but only to collect the one weapon holding me up.

I am very proud of this trophy and will set it beside my Resident Evil 5 plat as my honoured Platinum trophy. The other I have I didnt really have to work hard for except the Dead Nation which required a co-op run on Morbid Difficulty, however their recent patch dumbed the game down a little to make it very easy to actually finish.

So yes I set my sights very early on the Platinum for Demon Souls and achieved this goal I am now a very happy gamer!!

OK this is a first for me and this doesn't happen often but I cannot find the love for WWE 12 I had for the previous games, the mechanics are over complex and clumsy I cannot find myself getting drawn into the story lines, i.e. wanting just another ten minutes to finish this months game play or see what's around the next corner, it just isn't there I am very disappointed with this game which is a shame really.

THQ have really dropped the ball on this one for me, this is the biggest let down in the series for me, don't get me wrong this game has it's up points the graphics are stunning the impact mechanics are almost 100% correct and the game runs flawlessly.

I will be patient and give WWE 13 a go when it comes out later this year, if this too is as flat as WWE 12 I suspect that will be it for me and WWE games.

06-02-2011 -- Mirrors Edge
18-06-2011 -- Dead Rising
04-06-2011 -- Dead Space 2
26-06-2011 -- Infamous : Good
28-06-2011 -- Dead Nation
14-07-2011 -- Singularity
15-07-2011 -- Bioshock 2
21-07-2011 -- Batman Arkham Asylum
03-08-2011 -- Ratchet & Clank : Quest for Booty
08-09-2011 -- Assassins Creed 2
17-09-2011 -- Dead Space : Extraction
20-09-2011 -- Streets of Rage II - PSN
23-09-2011 -- Dead Rising 2
10-10-2011 -- Infamous 2
13-10-2011 -- Final Fantasy 13
29-10-2011 -- Dead Island
30-10-2011 -- Tomb Raider : Underworld
14-11-2011 -- Demon Souls
26-11-2011 -- Batman Arkham City

I've been sitting on these things for a while now, so I thought I'd shre them now with you all, to be honest back in the days of Resident Evil 1 & 2 I actually despised the Resident Evil Series, I found the games clumsy and hard to control and too slow for my liking, however having completed several other games and having nothing to do one night I sat down at 4am an forced myself to play Resident Evil 2. By the time I got to Raccoon City Police Station I was hooked, pretty sure I didn't put the game down for a month or so, actually got to the point I could clear Resident Evil 2 with Leon in around 2 hours or less. Needless to say I fell in love with the series right there.

On a side note been like 15 year old playing resident evil at 4am was a not so good idea, cos I was jumpy as hell at the tension the game builds up.

Then along came Resident Evil 3, OK so maybe not so scary but Nemesis was a pain in the ass to put down, though after my second run through the game I had it under control only needing two weapons to do the game, if it moves you gun it down with the assault rifle and when nemesis shows up hit him with a rocket launcher!! Another epic gaming win for me.

The came Code Veronica, an intriguing game that takes you away from Raccoon City, and into the depths of the T Virus creator. To be fair I enjoyed this game but found it a little easy in the end, though between a bad time in my life and break downs of my PS2 it took me about 5 years to actually finish this game!!

So we move and Resident Evil 4 to me was new, I actually played this on my partners laptop first Resident Evil game I ever played on PC and the last i may add as Resident Evil was too good for her laptop! Either way in the end I bought Resident Evil 4 for the PS2 and was engrossed in the game for a further two or three months, even going so far as to actually do the game on Hard.

The came my PS3 and Resident Evil 5 which I invested a large amount of 2010 to playing, at least 8 to 10 hours a day EVERY DAY at one point, I did this game all ways possible and the DLC games as well and have a platinum trophy to prove my time investment. The story works, though the AI partner leaves ALOT to be desired as she tends to hinder more than she actually helps you. But still a great all round game, and hopefully the final time you have to put Wesker down!

So now we come to my point hahaha, anyhow it's this the fact that your stationary while aiming is a pain, I prefer to aim and move such as the system in Dead Space, I'd probably die less if I could take a step or two sideways while lining up that all important shot. This is pretty much my biggest gripe with the series. Resident Evil 6 should go back to its roots or possibly combine the two sub plots? A further mutated version of the T-Virus and Uroboros? And we need some more of the old fashion puzzling. Maybe more of an open world concept. Let us explore ALL of Raccoon City see what's really going on in the underground labs, or the Mansion.

The last two games seemed to loose the sense of danger behind every door for the action based gaming, which is enjoyable to say the most but I wanna be worried about opening that door to the garden shed, for fear some over sized zombie is going to jump out and try and eat me!! Resident Evil needs to re-instate this element as it's the Resident Evils series strongest point, much like Dead Spaces ... dull no sound vacuum scenes which really unnerve you!! I'd love to see this come back as it's my favorite element, make me worried about playing at 4am with the lights off and curtains drawn again!!

For me graphics are always secondary to game play so run wild make the game as big as ever with our old favorite locations back and let us write our own story. Similar to Resident Evil 3's choices system, each option alters the direction of the game in some way. All this could make Resident Evil once more a premier in it's genre.