Yep, finished that one the other day. A mostly good game, very impressive in certain respects but lacking in others.

The playing mechanics is mostly really good. Smooth fighting, flowing roof-jumping, and so on, although sometimes the character did unintended things I could have sworn I didn’t do (or did when I tried not to) on the control, but probably did (or didn’t). The setting, a few medieval cities, is fantastic. These cities are, I’m told (and it certainly seems like it), fairly historically accurate (as are other aspects like the the clothes people wear), they look great, they feel alive, and they’re a lot of fun to be in, like really big labyrinths. As for the liveliness, it’s right up there with GTA 4.

The bad? Many mention the repetitiveness, and it’s true, it’s somewhat repetitive, although maybe that can be mitigated by just playing a little less each session. Keep a few other games around to play in parallel.

Worse than the repetitiveness is the story, which I found it somewhat hard to follow (until I did some googling at least), and even when I did follow it didn’t really have any emotional punch for me. The story itself may have been decent (or at the very least cleaver and complex for a game) but it’s told in a way I found difficult and/or unengaging. Maybe they were just trying to cram too many elements into too little story-time. Different factions, different time lines, lots of characters (giving conflicting information), etc. The main character even had a character arc, but there was almost no time to show it (all in all a few minutes perhaps, a part of a conversation here and there). It’s hard even at movie length to have a good character arc, the best ones are in TV shows (and books) where they have many hours of screen time to make it believable and real, and emotionally comprehensible. It’s not enough in a story to intellectually understand something; you have to feel it, and that means you can’t rush things.

In some games I wouldn’t even care about the story or storytelling lacking, but this game has such a rich setting and such interesting historical ties, which makes it a good candidate for an ace storytelling.

But it’s still a good, partly very impressive, game. No doubt. That’s why I’m so excited about the sequel, which I have in my possession (the complete edition, even). Eventually I’ll get part 3, Brotherhood, too. Multiplayer in these awesome city-labyrinths sounds like a great idea.

I really enjoyed playing Thief 2 on the PC back in the day. Way back. Unfortunately I didn’t get to finish it, but I would have today, along with Thief 1 and 3, if they hadn’t looked so dated (and graphics do matter in games like these), and if they had been available on the PS3 (I don’t like playing on my PC).

So it’s really great that Thief 4 currently is being developed and that it will be released on the PS3. No release date as of yet.

Yeah, just finished another golden oldie, three generations after everyone else.

Verdict? You guessed it: great game.

It’s very batmany from beginning to end; dark and full of lunatics you take down with awesome moves and gadgets.

Definitely looking forward to the sequel coming this fall. I hear that one will be like this one, only better and bigger, taking place in Arkham City itself.

Anyway, in case you’ve missed Arkham Asylum for some reason, check out the following video (for the full written review, check out ign.com.):

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjrszD19gzQ]

Tim at Me and My PS3 has a piece on tropies, so I thought I’d write on post on the topic as well.

Initially I didn’t care much for them. I still don’t care much, but I find them somewhat amusing and it’s not uncommon that I play a little more or differently to catch a trophy or two. Usually like this: I finish the game once without worrying about them at all, and then if the game is fun enough I do some additional playing to get trophies, assuming the game is fun anyway (it would be kind of lame to display a big trophy collection in a boring game, not to mention the pain of getting them.)

I’d be prepared to do some boring chore to get a platinum in a great game. What comes to mind is Infamous and collecting blast shards. Most you collect anyway during normal gameplay because they enhance your ability, but hardly all, or even near. During my first (and only) playthrough, and I thought I was pretty throughout, I collected about 300 out of 350. I’m planning on playing the game again — it’s pretty much made to be played twice — and getting a platinum. I’ll be my first. I would make sure to get one in Fallout 3 if I could just play the damn game long enough, but the bugs eventually make the game unplayable.

A good thing about trophies, when they’re well chosen, is that you get to play a different style for a while, or try out new things, things you discover you like doing but wouldn’t have thought of otherwise. It’s a good way to get more out of games you enjoy. But that assumes that the trophies are well chosen and not just a mindless chore, even if the goodness of the game can compensate for that to some extent.

And I kind of like it, it’s not at all as bad as the reviews would have you think (like gamespot’s 4.5 out of 10).

But I’m only on my forth mission, and apparently it gets more frustrating later. Still, I like using the sixaxis function, it’s fun and feels natural in this game. The dragon is not as hard to control as I’ve read (yet anyway), in fact I think flying it is a pretty smooth zen-like experience, not because it’s easy to make it do what you want when precision is required, but even failing feels smooth, somehow.

Edit: One thing though… it’s somewhat annoying that you only have three lives and then have to restart the mission. So if you fail at the end of the mission you have to replay sections you just beat just to get there. Gets old quickly. It does help raising the stakes a little, which isn’t all bad, but it isn’t as good as it is bad, so to speak.

Fallout 3 is my favorite game so far on the PS3, but despite that I haven’t bought the successor Fallout: New Vegas yet. Why? Because of the bugs people still report (especially the freezing which requires a restart of the PS3), even after several patches. And I believe them because Fallout 3 was unfortunately also very buggy in the later stages of the game (but New Vegas seems to be even worse).

The bugs in these two games, and also in Oblivion I’m told, are very similar (freezing and stuttering, and more) and they probably have the same root: the game engine which they all use. And if that’s so, they should have patched it years ago.

To get an idea of the extent of the problem, read the amazon reviews. Most people complain, or at least mention, the bugs. The average rate is 2.8/5, which is very low for a blockbuster game like this, and it’s all because of the bugs. Many say the game is great but the bugs ruin the experience.

And so I wait for the next patch and hope it will make the game playable.

Yes, the first one.  I’ll get part 2 sometime in the future, perhaps around the time part 3 is released. I’m not in a hurry, might as well try to get as much as possible out of each. And people are still playing the first online.

Like Mirror’s Edge it’s developed by DICE, and like Mirror’s Edge it’s awesome. Unlike ME it has multiplayer which of course is the main attraction. But I like the single player campaign a lot too, it’s amusing and I seem to like playing in team even if it consists of AIs.

My experience with FPSes (especially multiplayer) is very limited so it’s really hard to evaluate the game properly. I love it right now, but who knows what I’d think after having played a bunch of them. However, I have a strong intuition that this game really is very solid and well balanced. I find myself switching between the different classes (weapon kits) pretty often, and since you choose anew before each respawn it’s possible to pick whatever the current situation needs. Nice, but perhaps that’s standard, but at least Unreal Tournament (the only other FPS I’ve played online) has another system (pick up weapons from the map), and I don’t like that one as much.

I have a bunch of other FPSes laying around, including Killzone 2 and Resistance, but I didn’t get into the single player campaign that much in any of those, so I never got around to try out the multiplayer, but I will someday.

Awesome game.

It’s been in the bargain bins right from the start of my (late-starting) PS3 career, always among the cheapest games available, but it still took me some time to finally get around to purchase it, and then some additional time to play it.

I could describe the game, but it’s easier to just watch this trailer (I don’t know why I speak as if you don’t know about the game: either you’re a gamer and you’ve known about it for a century, or you’re a non-gamer and not interested):

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYYlfDvhSQw]

Pretty stylish, yes? I love that whiteness and those light colors, and all that sun. Playing the game somehow reminds me of the sunny summer days of my childhood, although I didn’t do quite that much killing and jumping off buildings. Many games go for a dark look (at least the ones I buy) so it’s nice with a contrast.

I like the music too, fits nicely with the game. The gameplay is a like a first person shooter but with jumping, climbing and running (and the like) instead of shooting (mostly, but there is some shooting). Although the story is minimalist I like what there is of it, and also the setting and the basic idea of runners (which I won’t explain).

Oh, and I must mention the sense of flow you get from executing an error-free series of parkour moves, especially when hunted by people with guns.

All in all a well integrated game that at least for me was an immersive experience, which is what I crave the most from a game.

In a month I’ve had my PS3 for about a year. That wasn’t just getting my first console, but in effect getting into the gaming world for the first time in a very long time (maybe ever, I was never really a part of a community last time around). Verdict? I love it. It’s been an interesting year of discovery, and I’ve feel like I’ve barely begun.

I’ve acquired more than 40 games since then, but most I haven’t even tried yet. Why keep buying when I already have unplayed games? Partly because of the various discounts I’ve come across. Since I’ve been reasonably sure I will be playing for several more years it doesn’t hurt to stack up. Also, I think it’s okay with a little excess in the beginning, to try out a lot of different games quickly to speed-boost the preference discovery process (maybe I could have rented games or something instead, but whatever).

Aside from playing I’ve been reading PS3 blogs and news sites, watching a lot of game related youtube videos (reviews and the like), and I’ve periodically been active in some PS3 forums. I’ve been looking forward to game releases and I’ve been terribly disappointed by one game. Last but not least, I’ve finally identified the root of all evil: the XBox [1]. You too can be a part of the epic console wars.

Too bad I haven’t documented the journey in the blog. I really feel it’s time to start blogging regularly again (famous last words before a blog die completely).

[1]. Just kidding. No, really.