Month in Review: February 2011 Continued

Part two is here, just the games played...

Games Played

Blade Runner (PC)

It's no secret that I'm a big sci-fi fan and of course, am partial to a bit of Blade Runner. The movie is a particular favourite of mine but until now I've never tried out the game. Released in 1997 by Westwood, Blade Runner the game is a point-and-click adventure with a clue-hunting theme. One of the big draws for me is the branching storyline and multiple endings which change depending on your in-game choices and certain quasi-random events. The story is similar to the movie, but rather than following Deckard through a story we already know the events in the game take place parallel to the film, weaving around and in between the movie plot. It's a simple enough trick, but it helps to make the universe that little bit more alive. I finished my first playthrough as a replicant sympathisers and rode off into the sunset with Lucy at the end. Next time I might try doing my job a little better and retiring some reps.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PC)

I've not played a Call of Duty game since Call of Duty 2 wowed me about five years back, so it was high time I rectified the situation by playing one of the series more critically acclaimed entries. Whether that praise is deserved or not I can't say for certain; as a dedicated solo gamer there simply isn't enough game there to decide! The single-player campaign, intense and spectacular as it is, is over in a heartbeat (around four hours on Regular difficulty) so I can't help feeling a little high and dry. To be fair, the developers have crammed a lot into the brief campaign and each mission is designed to unleash the adrenaline junkie in us all. But you don't need me to tell you all this. 55 million Call of Duty fans can't be wrong... right?

The Curse of Monkey Island (PC)

Because one can never play too many SCUMM adventures, and because I recently played through the superlative Monkey Island 2 Special Edition, I decided to crack out Monkey Island the Third for my monthly adventure gaming fix. It's not quite as fine as MI2, but it's still one of the greatest and funniest adventures of all time. Look behind you! A three-headed monkey!

King's Quest III: To Heir Is Human (PC)

I was going to play the recently-released King's Quest III Redux, a fan-made update of the game featuring gorgeous graphics and whatnot, but I couldn't get the thing to download. So it was back to basics in all its AGI glory. I'd forgotten how difficult King's Quest III actually is. As a kid, I could never get more than a few minutes into the game without being zapped by the evil wizard... thankfully now, I understand why that was and can work out a cunning way around such an obstacle. It's still maddenly unfair, as all good Sierra adventures are!

Mafia II (X360)

I managed to complete Mafia II this month and overall I'm pretty impressed. The story is good, and despite lifting every gangster movie cliche ever conceived still manages to take you for a ride as you follow Vito from small fry to made man and beyond, as everything starts to hurtle out of control and everything descends into bloodbath after bloodbath and dammit, if that wasn't some of the most fun I've had with a game like this in a long time! There are downers, most notably the city setting rapidly becoming dull, serving little more than an extended loading screen between missions as you quickly realise there's little to do outside of driving really fast and robbing gas stations. The story missions are where Mafia II shines, and any attempt at making the game open-world just slows things down. Anyway, I've finished the game and cracked another 21 achievements for 480 points.

Red Dead Redemption (X360)

I recently downloaded and played through the Undead Nightmare DLC pack for Red Dead Redemption. Cliched as it may be, I am still a firm believer that the addition of undead to any otherwise normal situation is a recipe for success. Adding zombies to Rockstar's already superb free-roaming western is silly and somewhat inane, but it works. During my playthrought I popped a further 9 achievements for 155 points, aided by the necessity for headshots!

Venetica (X360)

I said the proof would be in the playing and I was right. I suspected Venetica had got an unfair rep as a result of a few nitpicking reviews from people who don't know what they're talking about and I was right. Venetica isn't perfect... actually it's not even great... but it is a good, solid RPG that has managed to grip me from the start. The gameplay is simple yet combat can be challenging, and the story is standard fantasy fare: well-worn but proven, with some surprising standout moments. The only real gripe I have is how skill useage is handled. From levelling up your character you have access to dozens of skills covering four different weapon categories, six magic categories and a few assorted extras. These, along with equipment and consumables like potions can be assigned to the D-pad and the B button... and that's the rub. Being able to assign a maximum of five skills for quick usage makes the rest seem superfluous as you quickly come to rely on two or three over and over as accessing any others is far too long winded. A simple radial menu would have solved the problem in an instant. Anyway, that's something I have to live with and it's certainly not a game-breaker for me. Venetica is a simple game with simple promises that is simply fun to spend time with. Right now I'm at the start of Chapter 3, clearing out some catacombs and have so far unlocked 20 achievements for 300 points.

The Witcher (PC)

I said I'd finish it sometime soon! I finally finished The Witcher, and what a ride it was. With the Enhanced Edition patch smoothing away most of the frustrations and rough edges The Witcher has turned out to be one of my favourite games of the past five years. I've already said my piece in previous blogs, so I'll just leave it at that. The dark fantasy setting, unique world mythology and CD Projekt Red's thematic fearlessness make The Witcher a must play.

In Conclusion...

So there you have it. Lots of games played as I try to clear my biggest backlog - PC games comprise the majority of my collection, yet I've finished perhaps a quarter of them. Next month I might start looking to more console-based retro fun.