Today I set apart the whole day so my friend and I could play some Halo Reach, unfortunately I only managed to play three games after my friend had left at quarter to eleven in the evening. So what went wrong? Well it's mostly my fault but partly Bungie's. First of all I will start with what I did wrong.

1. I foolishly believed a friend who told me the Beta was starting at 1pm, turns out he misread and that it was 1pm Eastern Time in America, making it about 6pm here in the UK.

2. I accidently cancelled the Halo Reach download at 97% by thinking I could press the guide button to see if anybody was playing it at the time without it cancelling the download. I could not.

So those were my mistakes, but I was not totally at fault. The download took stupidly long, probably due to overwhelming demand the download was stuck at 1% for about half an hour, taking a fair few hours to get to 97%. Restarting it was a lot quicker than the first time; the 97% mark was reached in an hour and half this time. Sadly by the time the game had downloaded, at ten o'clock, my friend had left. It was a shame but at least, so I thought, I could get some Reach time in. A friend on MSN was telling me how he couldn't connect with the demo downloaded due to the game taking forever to load matchmaking and eventually telling him the servers were unavailable. This made me feel a bit better because it seemed I wasn't the only one having issues but little was I to know that after the four hour download (well downloads really) had completed that I would have the same issue.

Needless to say I was giddy with glee to be in the beta, I started to play and was told it was loading matchmaking. I then realised I may be having the long load issue my friend spoke of but no matter, I will just wait for a while; it will be loaded by half ten surely. I entertained myself by customising the Spartan, giving him the Unicorn logo (the logo of me and my friends fictional halo clan, a clan formed as a joke due to our all night Halo 3 marathon) and trying to customise his armour. I was then told I needed to buy new armour bits with in game cash, this was a slight bummer because it reminded me once again I couldn't play but I wasn't that concerned because I had my nice blue and white unicorn emblazoned Spartan ready to take on the world.

At about twenty past ten the game started to tell me the servers were down, I couldn't connect at the moment, please try again later. I tried everything knowing this was just a little glitch, I continually quit the menu and reloaded it, reloaded the game, turned the Xbox off and on again but nothing worked. Still I got the message that it wasn't available. So I left it and started to write a vaguely angry blog about my own stupidity and my slight annoyance with Bungie. When I looked up a bit later I saw that I matchmaking had just started. I was in!

My first game in the Beta was some kind of capture the flag thing; I'm not sure how it worked because everybody seemed to be playing it as team death match. By those rules I did pretty well, I came second highest in the game with kills and had what may have been the best k/D ratio, a smashing +9. The game itself was fantastic, it is definitely Halo, and really there hasn't been that much change. The weapons have all been redone but really they are just slightly altered versions of the classic weaponry, with a few really cool twists and one or two new death machines. The gameplay was of course solid and the inclusion of the different load outs is awesome. However I only tried two and the second one only by accident. When one of the load outs includes a jetpack, you go for that one. The other one I accidently chose one was the sprinting one, which was pretty useless. It's all about the jet pack. This rocket propelled backpack really did change it up a bit, now you have to be looking due to low flying Spartans jetting around everywhere. The new heights you can reach mean that new areas of the map open up, the ability to fly on to the roof means you have to watch your surroundings. This may seem like a good vantage point, but now people expect you to be high up, staying exposed like that is a recipe for a quick bit of lead to the head, which of course usually results in dead due to overexposure to bullets. The map itself was well designed and had a blood gulch or high ground look to it. This was sadly the only map I got to play.

After this first game I was ready for more but this was not destined to be for a while, the veto system has changed a lot. You now get four choices, all different modes but some on the same maps, and you'd guess that the one with the most votes went through. I'm pretty sure that was supposed to be the case and maps kept getting a majority but the voting kept failing apparently and it just kept starting again. It got to the point where one map had a complete majority but still the vote didn't count. Eventually I got into a more standard capture the flag on the same map and played this twice. This was still great fun and I didn't do so well but I still got some impressive kills. It's always good to drop in on three enemies with your jetpack and come out alive with two dead at your hands and one that managed to run away. That felt pretty cool I must say. However my fun was short lived because matchmaking messed up again and I was back at a menu. At this point I decided I only wanted to play team slayer because that's how I was playing it anyway, so I picked the Arena Slayer playlist. Then the game told me once more that the servers were unavailable so I turned it off and went to go write this.

So overall Halo Reach seems to have had a rocky launch, which is surprising due to Bungie's pedigree, I would like to think it is just me and my friend how had these issues but they seem to be more widespread. Overall Reach seems to be a fantastic game as far as multiplayer goes but it's definitely not the dramatic shift some fans were expecting. At its heart it is just Halo 3 with slightly different weapons and jetpacks. But doesn't that sound great?

Yesterday I finished my investigation into the Origami Killer and I feel that he/she was truly brought to justice. I managed to get the super happy ending and got the trophy for having all four characters alive in the first level. All in all the game was just amazing, the action scenes are really beyond anything I've played for a while and there were so many just fantastic moments. So I loved the game, the whole experience was just astounding, the atmosphere was spectacular and the story is really great but has some plot holes which are mostly forgivable. The game only has a few flaws, every now and then the near perfect animations don't look quite so good and some just look a little bad (that's not common at all though). The walking controls are not good and some of the camera angles when walking around are not great, even when you change them. However as soon as the game does the moving for you and lets you just quick time event away it just becomes phenomenal. All the button prompts are intelligently placed and the things you have to do always seem to fit the situation. The game really tests your reflexes and it's reasonably forgiving about it (one missed button won't kill you straight away and if you're doing a simple thing like say opening a cupboard you can try again if you fail) but missed prompts can have consequences. Not all of them do but the one you miss could be the one that gives your character an injury for the rest of the day or makes the game harder or every now and then, kills you.

The bottom line is Heavy Rain is like nothing else, it's more emotionally involving than any game I've played and it can be extremely exciting and tense. It uses the interactive nature of gaming perfectly and should not be missed. It has some rough edges and some people have some silly complaints with voice acting, which isn't always fantastic but it's not really bad, but honestly the game is simply fantastic; go and play it!

I thought it was about time I reviewed Halo 3, so I did.

http://uk.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/halo3/player_review.html?id=717545

A special thanks to thrubeingcool13 for proof reading it for me and to Nintendo_Warrio for having a look also. Feel free to recommend it if you like it :P.

Yesterday I completed Mass Effect 2 and it was incredible. Firstly it was such an improvement on the original (which I loved) rubbish vehicle sections gone, annoying interface issues ironed out, all the RPG bits streamlined to keep you in the action, less technical issues and just better gameplay with better writing. Of course the game has a great story but the basic story doesn't sound that great when you spell it out, in fact it sounds very generic. Also I realised it's the same basic story as Dragon Age: Origins, you need to go recruit people to take on an enemy that is threatening all life and that taking on seems like suicide. A generic premise but like with Dragon Age everything around it is just so good, peoples little stories, the things you have to do and the choices you have to make this make these games rise above all others.

My personal favourite bit of Mass Effect 2, despite the final mission which I will get onto later in non-spoiler terms, was the loyalty missions. Basically if you are facing an enemy that people claim is impossible to kill you want your squad to be loyal. You will recruit ten characters tops and each have different aims and ways of doing things, this means there will be conflicts between your crew and you need to do a good job as the commander to keep everybody calm and loyal to you. I played as a paragon so I was good at persuading people to just leave each other alone, but it got tough. The conflicts that arise within your squad are done really well because this time, your kind of working for the bad guys. Mass Effect has always been great about keeping you in that grey area and company you are now working for have the same aims as you, saving the galaxy but perhaps there ends justifying the means methods aren't what you want to do, perhaps they are; it all depends how you play. When you meet certain characters from the previous game (who I won't name) this makes it difficult because some of them won't trust you, especially seeing as your organisation is known for being a bit xenophobic, a bit too pro-human if you know what I mean. You need to practice your speech craft to get everybody happy as Larry and that is fun but the real good bits are the personal mission that every squad member has.

Some of the characters could have felt a bit lame, two-dimensional perhaps; you may find yourself thinking 'why would I fight with this guy? He seems so dull and there are other people like him.' As soon as you do their loyalty mission you realise that every character is excellent and in no way dull, the missions are very emotional, there are hard choices and you really see the other sides to your squad mates. Some even get to be your favourite characters even though you won't fight with them often. My squad was usually the lady I was trying to romance (and succeeded) and whoever else I could use to get certain achievements. However my two surprise favourite characters I never really went out with, Thane and Garrus. Garrus is just awesome and Thane was such an interesting and damn cool character.

"Thane of Glamis!", "Thane of Cawdor!" and "king hereafter"

The loyalty missions not only gave an interesting insight on each character but established the game its own character also. The problem with Mass Effect 1 was that although it was a technically good looking game the art design was just generic sci-fi and every place kind of looked the same. All the interiors were made in the same way which was kind of weird; space IKEA obviously does good business for flat pack interiors for uncharted worlds and galactic citadels. Luckily in Mass Effect 2 space IKEA seems to have gone out of business and now the game looks lovely, the loyalty missions alone take you to stunning locations. A highlight is the moody lighting and spooky weather effects on Subject Zero's great loyalty mission. Mass Effect has really matured as a franchise and has gone from generic sci-fi to a distinct and fascinating universe.

the game just looks great.

So now onto the real reason why I wrote this blog, the best bit of the game. The final mission. The suicide mission. There is achievement for leaving nobody behind, for surviving the suicide mission with your squad intact. I did not get it, entirely because I couldn't be bothered to farm upgrades because I was going to France (where I am now) in two hours and had the choice to scan planets or finish it. I lost two crew members in the starting cut scene of the mission and none due to any of my decisions later so I played well. The mission was just so powerful, you really felt for your team and you wanted to keep them alive. You don't really get this in gaming; it's usually if somebody dies game over or they just comeback at the end of the fight. Even when people do die in games it's due to the story not your decisions, it was awesome to be in control like this and know that it is just on you to keep these people alive, it gives you a sense of urgency that just has no parallel in any other media, never mind in other games. The mission itself was fantastic, Garrus was my main man. I ran the operation but you have to split into two squads at two points and both times my man Garrus was the leader of the other group. We go back.

All in all, Mass Effect 2 is just an amazing game. I may give a more professional opinion on it later in a review because it darn well deserves one.

I will leave you with this picture of Wrex who sadly isn't in your party in Mass Effect 2.

First of all, I saw Kick-Ass today, I had kind of low expectations going in and I was just blown away. The film is just fantastic, a definate 5/5, it's just hilarious and the action is stylish and plan awesome. Everything about the film just rocks, also it has Nicholas Cage in it, who I hate, and he was fantastic; his character was just hilarious. The film comes highly recommended! Also it has lots of nerdy references in it to other films and a few games, there is a bloodrayne poster I think I saw, there is a great Layer Cake reference (a film I just love) and at the beginning the film now showing at the cinema they go to is 'The Spirit 3', which I found hilarious. Man the Spirit is a terrible movie.

Also today I bought Mass Effect 2, I will be playing it a lot tonight :D.

My Clock BLockers review was mentioned in the community report :D

http://uk.gamespot.com/community/blogs/community-blog/909185261/index.html?tag=siteblogs;img;2

That's 3 reviews mentioned now.

Due to a request by the recently returned Ifnot I have written a review of the latest Ratchet and Clank game. There is one paragraph in it that was relaly fun to write, see if you can guess which one :P.

http://uk.gamespot.com/ps3/adventure/ratchetandclankacrackintime/player_review.html?id=713224

I hope you like the review, feedback is encouraged and please recommend it if you think it deserves it.

Man this game was great! The gameplay was just really fun and the story was amazing. The last third of the game was just amazing, a certain choice in the game was awesome and the discoveries at the end and the run up to, and including, the ending was just... fantastic. This further cements Bioware as my favourite developer, they make mighty fine games.

I finally beat Arkham Asylum, I realise I am bit late to the party (although the joker still let me go) but I would like to add that this game is awesome. Batman is a super badass but bless him he makes things harf for himself. He must get bored of battling the same enemies all the time because he refuses to murder them, maybe he shouldn't change but the Arkham security service needs to shape up! Don't build a plant house because you know what's going to happen, don't leave Killer Croc a convenient underwater lair and most of all, if you're a mental hospital/prison combo then don't decorate it with stupid ammounts of gargoyles. That will really creep out the already distrubed and is just a bit wierd.

The oscars last night left me quite happy mostly. This is of course due to James Cameron not winning everything because in my opinion he didn't deserve it, Avatar is not best picture material. I haven't seen the Hurt Locker and have no real interest in it so maybe it deserved to win and it definately seems it's better than Avatar. Sadly the finest film of last year didn't even get any nominations, Moon should have won every award (definately all the ones it was eligible for at the least). It's a shame that such a fantastic movie didn't get any recognition and it's also a shame that In the Loop didn't win the one award it was nominated for, because that film is great (it was on BBC2 last night and watching it reminded me how good that film is) but at least Star Trek got something. Star Trek was awesome, a better film than Avatar, not best picture material really but more so than Avatar.

Oh and people who disagree with me, this is my opinion. Well apart from Moon deserving to win everything, that is plain fact!

Anyway a quick gaming update, I completed Fable 2 today and I very much enjoyed it. I had many hilarious adventures which I may write into a blog about my characters life story, which is a very strange story indeed.