Played it a lot more now, should be completed in a few more gaming days (not all days are).

The colorfulness compared to the first game keeps being striking. It is especially obvious during the masquerade, ending with fireworks and everything.

There’s a lot little references to Altaír, the assassin in the first game. That’s pretty cool if you’ve played that one, and it makes him seem almost like a legend, more so than when you played him.

Like the first game I think the story is convoluted and pretty hard to follow in detail, though partly, I guess, because I don’t try very hard, as I just don’t particularly like it. It’s a lot of names and intrigues to the right and left and I just don’t care enough to keep track of it all. That doesn’t matter much though, I get the main quests and the immediate goals, and I like the gameplay. That’s enough for me.

It’s not a hard game. That’s fine, I’m not an adherent of the school of thought that games have to be challenging to be enjoyable; I’m more of an immersion and flow kind of guy, though challenges can be fun at times. (The best venue for challenge is probably multiplayer anyway).

And ahh, the music is mostly very good. Being such a fan of music that’s important to me, as it contributes a lot to the feel and immersion of a game.

There’s a lot of small additions and improvements over the first game, like a reputation system and some really cool weapons, like the possibility to secretly poison someone and than watch that person go crazy and strike blindly around him. Too much fun.

Anyway, this concludes my two part series on Assassin’s Creed 2. I will definitely be playing Brotherhood some time later.

Yep. The 1.05 patch did fix a lot of bugs, and 1.06 is on its way and apparently it’s going to be a huge patch for the PS3 — more than ten times as big as the XBox counterpart (but then the PS3 version currently is the most buggy of all, as was, alas, Fallout 3.)

So I finally purchased the game, and I will probably get playing as soon as I’m done with Assassin’s Creed 2, assuming the new patch has been released. If the game at that point still has freezing issues I’m going to… I don’t know, keep whining about it here perhaps. Or sacrifice a goat with the game attached to it.

I’ve shelved Oblivion before completion, possibly for ever. Mostly because I had the game freeze on multiple times (having to restart the PS3) within a short period of time. I knew the game has these bugs, but I was hoping they would materialize further into the game as the save gets bigger, just like Fallout 3 and other Bethesda games. While the game is good (great in some ways and problematic in others) I just can’t stand freezing. Especially not when I have other games waiting. So I turned to Assassin’s Creed 2 instead.

Have barely begun AC2, but I still have a few impressions, mostly comparisons to the first one which I finished not long ago.

AC2 is more colorful. Both in literal colors (although it still looks a little bland color-wise, but less than before, and the overall graphics is good), but also in other ways such as characters and story. AC1 is a very serious game where you play an Eastwood-esque silent loner killer, while AC2 has a more playful feeling to it.

Plus it’s set in renaissance Italy rather than the stony medieval cities of AC1.

All in all the overall “feel” is somewhat different despite the many similarities (such as the game mechanics, which also has some differences though, notably AC2 is a little faster, climbing and such).

There is more variety in AC2, like more mission types, more weapons and the option to buy different clothes.

Perhaps more on this later.

To get the most out of playing I think it’s good to have a plan of some sort, and this is it.

So far I’ve only bought one game (out of 40+ games) at release, and that was GT 5. I planned on buying New Vegas at release, in fact I waited for that moment for months, but before it was released in Europe the gamers in US started to complain about serious bugs so I never got it.

This year it looks like I’m getting three games upon release, and they are:

• Deus Ex: Human Revolution
• Battlefield 3
• Skyrim

Not entirely certain about Skyrim, and in any case it won’t be exactly at release (but not long after) because I need to have my minions testing it for bugs first. My earlier experiences with Bethesda demands that.

These purchases come with some responsibilities. I need to be done with some games first: Oblivion before Skyrim, and Bad Company 1 och 2 before Battlefield 3. Not entirely easy, because I haven’t even got Bad Company 2 yet, and I’m far from done with BC 1.

Deus Ex is probably the one I’m looking forward to the most.

Of course, if Thief 4 is released this year I’ll get it in a heartbeat, but if so we’d probably know by now. And if Twisted Metal is really awesome I might consider getting it.

Yeah. I got this game a long time ago and I’ve been playing it now and then, but only very recently getting into it more deeply. The verdict? Let’s just say that there is picture of this game next to the definition of awesome. At least for a while.

This game has involved going through four phases:

1. You begin playing. You like it. The superb graphics and hits you like a sledgehammer and there’s nothing to complain about. But what does it have to offer to distinguish itself? You remember something about a grappling hook and a parachute…

2. The discover the awesomeness of the parachute and the grappling hook. Even the most basic use of each, like gliding in the sky looking at the sunset or whatever (very pretty), is like the best gaming you’ve ever done. This phase lasts for hours. You just sort of travel around randomly exploring the island and doing some killing here and there, trying out vehicles etc.

Lots of parachuting, because, you realize after a while that it’s possible to use the grappling hook to gain momentum, so you basically use the parachute to get around everywhere, even to climb mountains if you like (not entirely easy though, but it gets you a trophy!). Parachuting is really fun, partly, I’m guessing, because it’s unusual, but also because it’s so well done, so smooth and with nice game physics.

But then…

3. After a while it starts to get a little old. You don’t know why, but it’s not as fun anymore. There’s certainly nothing wrong with the game and it almost feels like blasphemy to say anything negative about it, but… “let’s just shelve it for a while” is the unspoken feeling, and that’s what I did.

But then… once more.

4. At some point you realize something and start to play the game again, or if it’s the other way around. Maybe it’s just the lack of progress and purpose that’s the problem? I mean, during phase two I was so enthralled by the free-roaming type of gameplay, which is so much fun for a while, that I basically played like a hippie-junkie of some sort, i.e. without purpose or progression — without doing much missions or even trying to collect things from the map (which brings upgrades and the like).

Unlike GTA 4 this game lets you have access to the whole island from the start so there is less incentive to progress, which makes it even more open world (and the world is huge and beautiful btw, it certainly beats GTA in that regard and I’m saying that as a huge fan of the GTA world).

So anyway, I started to play with purpose (missions, collecting, blowing things up — yes the last makes you progress too, even when you’re not in a mission!) to get a sense of progress. The result? The return of awesomeness. Apparently it really was the lack of a sense or progress that eventually made the game less fun. Now I combine “work and play” in the game and it’s great. It’s absurd in a way that even being frustrated and angry because of repeatedly failing something makes the game more fun in the end.

[end of phase 4]

The story is not that great but the missions are well created and fun.

I still have a long way to go before completing the game (there’s a lot of things to do, definitely a game that lasts) so maybe there are more phases, we shall see.

Here’s some gameplay:

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WD1GUO_15kw]

Over a month ago a new patch was released for New Vegas and I’ve been watching the official forum (and also amazon reviews) since, and it looks like this patch really had an effect on some serious bugs. Some are even able to play the game without game-braking bugs like terrible freezing requiring a restart.

Well, that’s a start, but some people still get freezing (and stuttering, and getting stuck in things…), and there still quest bugs that require special knowledge to get around. Ugh. Why do some of the best games this generation, the two latest Fallouts, also have to be the buggiest?

Almost ready to buy the game, and maybe I will, but I’d prefer if they release at least one more patch to remove the worst of the remaining bugs.

Meanwhile I continue playing Oblivion.

Yep, I’ve finally started digging into that very price-worthy Orange Box, which contains no less than five quality games AND is sold at bargain price these days. It was originally released back in 1865 but as usual I’m not afraid of oldies.

Portal: fun, original. I’m only 1/3 through (and it’s not a big game) and I’m already looking forward to playing the much expanded Portal 2.

Team Fortress 2. Fun, stylish, well-balanced despite having very different classes. Finally I’m playing a second FPS online (the first is Bad Company 1), now I have games to compare.

Of course, playing the three Half-Lives is going to be cool as well but I think that will have to wait a while.

The trailers for Team Fortress 2 are pretty funny. Here’s one:

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyNuriXG3BQ]

So I’ve been playing Oblivion for a while. Second time actually, first time was last year but I couldn’t get into it. Partly, I think, because my character kind of sucked. I tried to be cleaver and make a custom-made character that was good at everything, or at least those things that interested me the most. The result was a mess, I wasn’t good enough in anything specific battle-wise so I just lost and lost.

Plus it’s a pretty deep game that takes time to get into, so when losing that initial motivation because of suckage I shelved the game for later continuation. But instead of continuing I started anew, and this time with a better character. A warrior, and I’m also committed to improving precisely the warriors aspects (mostly anyway) rather than diverting the development.

Being a warrior in this game is also good for another reason: the game is very slow. I like that, but I don’t necessarily want to make it even slower by going mage or a sneaking thief. Plus, these traits can be developed later in the game when I’m secure in my warrior-identity. Until them I’m mage- and thief-phobic.

Okay, but enough about that. What about other aspects? Well, huge game world, lots of things to do, so much that you have to avoid doing a lot of things because it would take too much time otherwise. And those are not “meaningless” things like collecting stuff only get a trophy (the game doesn’t even have trophies btw, too old). For example, I don’t do any alchemy. That involves picking plants of various kinds and combining them into potentially potent potions. And like I said I don’t yet try to develop my magical side, although this can be a huge part of the game if you go that route.

Not only is the world huge, it’s also beautiful. The graphic is good but not super, but the aesthetics is definitely great. I can understand people preferring the look of this game to the post-apocalyptic landscape of Fallout 3 (aka “Oblivion with guns”), although they’re wrong when they say the graphics is better.

There is not much to say about the battles. They’re not very demanding in terms of reaction time or anything, instead it depends a lot on the character and gear. Which is good, an RPG should depend more on the character in the game than the player playing the character. The battles are fun, and there’s an arena in which you can compete gladiator-style and rise in ranks and get some cash with each victory.

While I do like the game a lot this time around (but even now it took several hours to get into it), I still like Fallout 3 more. A least so far. A lot can be said about the similarities and differences between these two, but I think I’ll save that for another post.

I leave you with my favorite song from the game:

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uCDgiRClYs]

Could also be known as The Return of the Monkey-Ninja.

This is my first game in this classic series about the vagabond prince who isn’t really a prince. In this game he hooks up with Elika to fight the good fight against an ancient evil threatening to devour the world (from beneath perhaps) and all its life, or something like that. Not the most original enemy, but it works pretty well in fairy tale game like this.

During the gameplay I had mixed feelings about this game, but what I’m left with is mostly positive. In the beginning I almost felt quitting, but the game grew on me as I became more and more effective at swinging around like a monkey-ninja, plus I gradually came to appreciate more and more the characters and the game world. Never really got the hang of the fighting though, even though it’s supposedly easy, so that was frustrating at times (but mostly not).

The game is very pretty, the music is mostly very good, the story is somewhat standard but okay, although like many other games I think it could be told more effectively, and character moving mechanics is great, it’s really satisfying pulling of a series of smooth moves, especially involving power plates (won’t explain, but youtube should have videos of this).

It’s not really my type of game, but I’m glad I played it. Surprisingly I got a couple of trophies I wouldn’t have thought in advance, including finishing the game within a certain amount of hours (although it’s 12 hours, but I’m not known for playing fast) and being saved by Elika fewer than 100 times (you fall toward your death a lot in the game, especially in the beginning).

The ending, everything that transpires after the first ending credits (so keep playing until you can’t move the character), is really powerful and surprisingly dark. Definitely a memorable gaming experience for me.

Here’s my favorite song from the game, which also happens to be played during several pretty cool sequences with power plates:

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF1zaLoJkNI]

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.