Month in Review: August 2010 Continued

Part two of August's monthly blog. Here you'll find all the game playing updates I have to offer.

Games Played

Alan Wake (X360)

I finished this game at the start of August, and all I can do is reinforce the strong positive statements I made about the game in my last blog. Alan Wake is an excellent, atmospheric horror action-adventure with a good story, interesting mechanics and a great, spooky feeling that permeates the entire game. The ending is a bit... weird... but the story builds towards that ending in a well-structured manner so that weird never becomes confusing. I also downloaded and played the first DLC pack (The Signal), which was free! Free is always good. The Signal is a little more fantastical than the main game, as the entire episode is set in a dream-like reality where environments can change with little warning and you can never be too sure as to what horror you'll shine your light on to next. Great stuff, easily a contender for Game of the Year in my books. I also managed to find all the collectables by replaying a few sections, so all together I added another 12 achievements and 330 points to my gamerscore.

Alpha Protocol (X360)

Where to start with Alpha Protocol? This was a highly anticipated title for me all the way through development and the mediocre reviews it garnered upon released crushed a lot of my hopes. A modern-day action-RPG, splicing Bond, Bourne and Bauer into an international terrorist plot layered with government conspiracy and shady corporate dealings, it should have been great. It's not great, but it's still rather good and I liked it. I like it a lot. It could have used a little spit and polish, for sure, but it's not the bugged, broken mess people have made it out to be. I counted three instances during my playthrough that could count as glitches: two freezes (one on the title screen, one mid-game) and I did get stuck in the scenary once. Annoying, but hardly game-breaking and it didn't really detract from my enjoyment of the game. I liked the modern setting, the rogue agent stuff, the political wrangling and the threat of Cold War. Jason Bourne stars in his very own Tom Clancy novel. I liked the integration of RPG stats into an action game, understanding that my character's abilities are equally important as my own in scoring headshots. Collecting and utilising information about people and organisations was fun. Sneaking about and planting gadgets was fun. Doing the dirty with four out of the game's five female characters was fun. Dislikes? Yes, there were some. The dialogue system was a good idea, but the premise was implemented better in Mass Effect. I liked the timed aspect of the conversations, however the choices were just too vague to have any real idea of what Thorton was going to say when the time was up (Dossier! Honeypot! Trousers!). Not that it matters much; main dude Michael Thorton is a tool whichever way you colour him and his friends and enemies are often little more than cardboard cutouts. So the characters could have used some work. More customisation options would have been nice too, maybe a chance to play as a woman or the ability to fine tune your perks a bit more. Apart from that, I'd say Alpha Protocol is a good effort overall and definately underrated. I beat the game with one ending out of many (replayability is high, for sure) and netted 25 achievements for 685 points.

Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror (PC)

I'm still on an adventure binge and the Broken Sword series is one that should not be overlooked by anyone wanting a great old-school adventure. I actually prefer Broken Sword II over the first game, I found the plot a little quicker-paced, the humour more pervasive and the puzzles less frustratingly obtuse (for the most part). I also liked being able to control both George and Nico as they seperately try to solve the mystery - the focus flits between them more and more in the later stages of the game, building tension in cIassic film styIe. I've finished the game now, hopefully I'll be able to get Broken Sword III working on my 64-bit OS soon.

Cryostasis (PC)

Just when I think true PC gaming has died a sad, lonely death, something like Cryostasis comes along to prove me wrong. Incorrectly touted as a horror-themed first-person shooter along the lines of F.E.A.R, Cryostasis is actually a rather slower-paced affair. I'd say it was a first-person adventure, not a shooter. Although there is shooting involved, combat is far too clunky to fit in with the twitch-shooting crowd. Cryostasis is set on an ice-locked Russian ship in the North Pole. Something horrific has happened on board... and, well, that's about all the information you get to start with. With little exposition and few answers, the game is not afraid to keep you guessing. The less you know, the scarier situations become. And Cryostasis has no shortage of pant-wetting situations, let me tell you. It's also gorgeous. The claustrophobic environments of the ship can be rather samey, but the physics and water effects on show are like something out of a tech demo - not surprising since that's how the game began life. Of course, you'll need a beefy rig to show Cryostasis at it's best. Mine just about does medium settings smoothly with PhysX enabled - any higher and the whole thing turns into a stop-motion puppet show. At the moment I'm on Chapter 12 and thanks to some fantastic storytelling via the game's nifty Mental Echo system (the ability to take control of a dead person's memories and change their fate) I'm slightly closer to discovering the real truth about what happened on this ship of horrors.

The Dig (PC)

I have to laugh every time I see this game's pitiful review score on this very site. 4.5 because it's not funny enough? Pffft. The Dig is one of the best adventures Lucasarts have ever done. So what if it takes itself seriously? The Dig leans more towards epic space adventure than the fantastical comedy wranglings of most other SCUMM games, and it's not a bad thing. The story, music and grandiose scale bring to mind all the best space operas in film and fiction, from 2001: A Space Odyssey to Burrough's John Carter of Mars. Producer Steven Spielberg might have had something to do with the high production values and filmic quality. In any case, I love The Dig and you should too.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance (X360)

I've never been a comic fan per se, but I have always had a big soft spot for the animated and film adaptations of superhero comics. As a kid, Saturday mornings always involved a hefty dose of X-Men. There have been precious few video game comic adaptations that have piqued my interest, but Marvel Ultimate Alliance is one of them. I did put off buying it for a good few years, but now I'm glad I am able to play it. Gameplay is in the same sort of action-RPG styIe as X-Men Legends or fantasy outings like Dark Alliance, which suits the universe perfectly. Each character (of which there are lots) has their own unique set of moves - melee and projectile, special attacks, buffs, debuffs, double jumps or flying attacks - which makes building a well-rounded team a fun task. I'm currently at the start of Act II and have unlocked 11 achievements for 190 points.

Professor Layton and Pandora's Box (DS)

I finally finished this one. I really enjoyed the puzzles - though the story was pure silliness - and it was a good distraction for me during lunch breaks and other brief downtime. It's a lot more enjoyable than any one of dozens of dull 'brain training' games out there, for sure! I recently picked up the first game, which I might start soon (yes, I'm doing things backwards).

Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective Vol. II (MCD)

A part of me hoped this would be halfway decent. Alas, in truth, the whole thing is an unfathomable mess of low-quality video and astoundingly obtuse leaps of logic. I like old-school mysteries of the type presented here, and I like figuring things out logically... but I don't think there's anything logical about Sherlock Holmes Vol. II. The idea is that you, as the titular detective, must solve crimes by travelling about London and gathering enough clues and hard evidence to bring a suspect to trial. Each important location yields a crappy piece of FMV with a couple of clues to lead you to either the next location and its own set of clues or, eventually, a conclusion as to who done the deed, how and why. Unfortunately, the audio is of such poor quality (and the accents so atrociously bad) that any pertinent information you might gather from a video are lost in the muffle, leaving you literally clueless. In the end I just completed the game through trial and error and some rather astonishingly brilliant guesswork.

In Conclusion...

Another month of fun-packed gaming. Summer's pretty much over, so we'll all be gearing up for the big autumn releases soon. I've got some serious catching up to do this year already, but personally I can't wait for some of the big upcoming games. Fallout: New Vegas, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and Medal of Honor to name just a few. On a side note, I just completed Xmas planning at work. 16 weeks to go, peeps :roll: