Sega Rally (PSP)

I've made my way through a few championships now and my first impressions seem to be pretty much spot on.

I'm still not entirely sure how to maximise my speed around corners, especially in the Apline stages. I really think I need to play with sound on for a while, because the tyre sounds will probably give a little bit of extra feedback.

The PSP really has some great racing games. Ridge Racer, OutRun, TOCA and now this. (I still dream of a re-release of OutRun with a decentg framerate, though.)

Halo 3 (360)

Today, I made my peace with level eight. It still wasn't great, but by taking things more slowly I died less and didn't get lost so much. It's not up to the standards of the other levels and it's much too long, but it's not as bad as I thought.

Level nine, the final level, was just plain awesome. To both the extreme and the max.

And that was the end. I remembered to wait through the credits to see the final cutscene, and was very glad I did, as it explained something that confused me in the pre-credits cutscene.

Overall opinion of the single-player campaign? Well, I'm sure you can guess. It's brilliant.

Then, of course, there's multiplayer. I played three matches in Basic Training and actually won one of them. And not by a little. By a lot. The next match I came dead last in, but I had my moment of victory.

After that I decided to go back to the single player, with scoring turned on this time. I didn't expect to see anyone, but someone on my friends list joined me. Not sure who they are, really, being a slightly random name, but we played through the first half of the first mission in complete silence and then they quit. Why I didn't say anything, I don't know. I'm regretting it now. But I was just confused at first at the fact that there was another player with me, which I hadn't expected, and as the silence grew it became more difficult to break. I really want to try it with some talking friends sometime.

Clive Barker's Jericho Demo (360)

This is a squad-based FPS, which seems to be set in a crumbling castle or citadel of some sort populated by bondage-tinged horrors. It's difficult to tell, as it's just about the darkest game ever. Very atmospheric, but it's really quite annoying. I took to using one character's fire bomb move just to light the place up, rather than kill anything. Still, it's good fun, if short.

If this came out in a February or a March I'd be cautiously interested, but post-Halo and pre-Orange Box and Mario Galaxy it's really going to get lost. It's on my "possibly pick up for under a tenner in the sales" list.

Sega Rally (PSP)

I've just spent half my lunch hour going testing this out. At first it felt very odd, as the handling isn't the same as the 360 version, leaning very slightly further towards the real world than that version. If it rates an eleven out of ten on the ridiculous-arcade-handling-meter on the 360 then it gets a nine on the PSP.

It also doesn't seem to have the same track deformation technology as its big brother, but it's still a great achievement. The framerate seems solid, the pop-up is limited to objects a very, very long way away and there are even some persistant objects that can get spread out over the track during the race, such as tyres, rocks and fenceposts. (Well, it is a Bugbear game, after all.)

I started off doing a few races in Quick Race mode, getting used things. I found that the d-pad works better than the nub and the wobbling bonnet-cam view is better than the default chase-cam view and was ready to get stuck in, so it was on to the first Championship. I won the first two races with ease, but the third and final race was on ice and snow and I only managed to finish third due to a terrible first lap.

Overall, I'm very happy with the game. I probably should have waited until this evening to play it, because now I'll be itching to get back all afternoon while I'm working. Somehow web design has lost its allure.

Halo 3 (360)

Last night I played a lot of single player and got up to the penultimate level, level eight.

Now, level eight is already infamous online with The Internet deeming it to be a rubbish level in an otherwise stunning game. In this case, The Internet is right. It's bloody atrocious. Incredibly repetitive in the most annoying fashion, badly checkpointed, far too easy to get lost in, despite basically being a single corridor, and with dull and annnoying combat.

Last night I was thinking that it wasn't up to Halo standards, but was still the standard of a decent FPS, but in the cold light of day I feel it may not even be that good. It's like a bad FPS and Halo is a bad game while you're playing it.

Shame, as all the levels preceeding it were incredible. Absolutely marvellous. So many great moments and all I could think while playing was "I can't wait to play this again." I'm itching to finish the game so I can play through it all again, but I'm not going to be looking forward to level eight, unless it somehow clicks when I try it again next time I play.

Halo 3 (360)

I am loving this.

However, after playing the single player for an hour or so I accepted a game invite for some multiplayer fun, assuming the game had been saving my progress as I'd been going along.

It seems not.

Looks like I'll have to restart, but I really don't mind, given the fun I had first time round.

Geon Demo (360)

I quite liked this. Felt a bit random, but an enjoyable waste of time nonetheless. Didn't really click with me and I never noticed my opponent scoring, but it was fun enough.

Possibly, maybe 400 points of fun. Not 800 points of fun though, I'm afraid.

Sega Rally Demo (360)

I'm playing this demo far too much, you know. I really don't like how much I like this game, if you know what I mean. It's starting to feel dangerous.

LocoRoco Cocoreccho (PS3)

Yes, yesterday not only did I turn my PS3 on, but I actually played a game on it.

A game that cost me the princely sum of £1.99.

A game that I played for about fifteen minutes before turning off.

A fun, charming and cute fifteen minutes that I shall return to, mind, don't get me wrong. Why on earth Sony are marketing this as an "interactive screensaver" I don't know. It's a game, pure and simple. Not a very big game, but the price of two quid is pretty spot on. More of this sort of thing, please.

Metal Slug Anthology (PSP)

I've had this a while, but keep forgetting the post about it, as I only play it for odd moments. I've only been playing the first game and not continuing. I've got to the second stage and to the top position on the leaderboard. Unfortunately, though your high score is saved with your general profile, the high score table for each game is only saved if you save the individual game. It's a bit of pain and some sort of autosave wouldn't go amiss.

Oh, and it looks very, very lovely indeed on the PSP and plays very well.

MySims (Wii)

Well, today I sorted out a boutique and an ice cream parlour and got my town up to a three-star rating, which means I can unlock the desert area. I haven't bothered yet, having far too much else to do first, but it's nice to know it's available.

MySims (Wii)

Well, after the first couple of hours there's never a shortage of things to do. There are always people to move in, tasks to perform for existing residents, things it would be nice to build for friends, places to go prospecting, etc. Time becomes something of an issue if you try to do everything, so I've been concentrating on moving people in and performing tasks for the business people of the town. When I next play I think I'm going to forget about new residents for a while and concentrate on improving my existing relationships.

Phew.

MySims (Wii)

First impressions. It's really rather good. There's a fairly lengthy tutorial section and then you're left to do what you want. The focus so far seems to be more on the building part of the game, rather than the relationships. This suits me fine. I've been very enjoying adding my own little touches to things I build and making buildings for my town, Crystal Lake. (It helps that my wife had been playing before me, so could give me a lot of helpful tips that it took her a while to find out when she played.)

So far, so good.

Aegis Wing (360)

Well, it's free and it's worth the download.

Colin McRae DiRT (360)

Up to tier five now. I'm only playing on Clubman difficulty, which may explain the quick progress.

Sega Rally Demo (360)

A few more races. Ther's a lot if fun in this demo.

Colin McRae DiRT (360)

After Sega Rally this felt a bit dull and listless for a couple of races, but then I got back into it. Managed to get myself up to tier three and netted a fair few achievements. I even enjoyed the big trucks I had to race in a couple of events, which I wasn't really expecting.

Sega Rally Demo (360)

Fantastic arcade racing. I wish it was rubbish, but it's great.

Sigh.

Jeanne D'Arc (PSP)

Blimey. I did a couple of Free Battles and then leapt into the next story mission.

I have to storm a dark fortress, lit by purple magical lights. It's very intimidating. I also only have eighteen turns to do it. And it's Game Over if I lose any of my units. I've taken a couple of turns so far and I really don't see that I've got any chance of winning. The big doors will slow me down terribly, the enemy units are tough and there's a boss at the end.

I may need to level up some more before trying this one again. (Yes, I'm assuming that I'll lose.)

Chili Con Carnage (PSP)

Today, I had to escape a meat factory. Which meant hanging from meat hooks. And killing lots and lots of bad guys.

Really strange little game. So good in so many ways, so rough in others. I hope the same developers get given a bigger budget and more time for another game in the same vein.

Colin McRae DiRT (360)

While the wife had a quick shower, I took the opportunity to do a couple of quick events and had a very, very good time indeed.

It seems this game really is excellent when it comes to cars and right now I'm glad it escaped the trade in pile when I went into town today.

Chili Con Carnage (PSP)

Well, I got past the boss. Not sure how. I got her death cut scene when her health bar still seemed to be about a third full. Random.

This game is really is rough as heck. It's great fun, but it keeps glitching and I get an error message (which it recovers from eventually) when I turn the PSP on. Could be issues with the shiny new PSP hardware or new firmware, I suppose, though it could just be the low budget.

It's a good game, though, despite anything, if you ignore that first boss. I get the impression that I'll be giving up when I get to the next one, unless I can somehow glitch past it.

Chili Con Carnage (PSP)

Oh, wait, I've got to a boss. A horribly annoying boss.

Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

Gnnnng.

Chili Con Carnage (PSP)

I'm not very good at this one, either. I'm all right at surviving and getting through levels, but I'm terrible at scoring and racking up combos. It's still fun, but it's depressing to get through a level and then be way off even a bronze medal. Hopefully I'll be able to come back later when I've got a bit better.

Gradius Collection (PSP)

Specifically, Gradius Gaiden, which I've never played before. I've yet to get off the first level, but I have managed to reach the boss. Once.

Yeah, I'm not very good. For some reason I'm much better at vertically scrolling shooters than horizontally scrolling ones. No idea why.

OutRun 2006 Coast 2 Coast (PSP)

Sometimes I just need me some OutRun.

Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels (Wii)

Not released in the UK before now (as a standalone game) because it's too hard for us supposedly.

And, well, yes, it's too hard for me. Not made it off 1-3 yet.

Tamagotchi Party On! (Wii)

The Internet doesn't have a kind word to say about this game, so I guess it's up to me to lead the defence force.

Tamagotchi Party On! isn't completely rubbish. There are annoyances, yes. Having to play with four players, two of which were controlled by the CPU when my wife and I played, is a pain. Sometimes the Wiimote doesn't quite seem to do what you're telling it to. And it's all a bit random - though the fact that this is the electronic equivalent of Game of Life or Snakes and Ladders means I don't think that's really a problem.

What you're left with is a deeply cynical view of the political process in incredibly cute clothing. (And odd. Don't forget odd. You can lose popularity with the voters by pissing off a library.) Play mini games, take a chance on random event squares, meet other Tamagotchis, buy things to make your home more attractive (and thus make you more popular with the voters), etc.

I bought the game for my wife on eBay for a fraction of the high street price, not expecting to enjoy it at all, yet I suggested a second game when the first was over. And it is not the best game in the world, but it's not a bad board game to waste time with if you can get it at a budget price and have a Tamagotchi fan in the house. Whether it beats Game of Life I don't know, not having played that one since I was ten, but it beats the living daylights out of Snakes & Ladders.

Call of Duty 4 Beta (360)

After some more Free-For-All, I decided to try some Team Deathmatch. I was comfortably the worst person in my team in all the rounds I played, but I wasn't way down below the next-worst person, which... is... some... comfort.

Gnng.

Colin McRae DiRT (360)

You know how sometimes you get game series that do one thing very well, then add in other stuff which is rubbish? Like when the Rogue Squadron games added on-foot sections?

Well, that's DiRT for you. Rally stages, hill climbs, great. Pick-up truck circuit racing? Not so much. No unbearably bad, not at all, but they're not as fun as the core racing and suffer from some terribly offputting framerate issues.

I'm thinking a part-exchange for Sega Rally Revo may be in this game's future.

Call of Duty 4 Beta (360)

I just tried out some games of Free-For-All to get used to the controls and had a good time. Got promoted a few times. Created a class and added a grenade launcher to my AK-47, but couldn't work out how to fire it.

And then I quit out, which seemed to end the game, because I was the host. I hadn't realised that. Oops. I feel bad now.

Sonic The Hedgehog (360)

I played this while the CoD4 Beta was downloading, but couldn't get off the Green Hill Zone. First time I died before getting to the boss, in my second game the boss killed me.

How rubbish am I? I mean, really.

Okami (PS2)

I've never got round to play this, but my wife found it on the shelf and started it this morning. Now about ten hours in, I've been marvelling at the frankly incredible graphics (really, screenshots and online videos show nothing) and helping out with some hard bits.

Jeanne D'Arc (PSP)

Evidence is mounting that this game is something truly special. I brought my PSP into work today because I couldn't wait until this evening before trying that battle again.

So I've just spent a very pleasant half of a lunch time once again attempting to defend the Bastille of the Augustins. And this time, I won. I tried a new placement for my troops, which initially seemed to be very unsuccessful. Marcel fell early, because I forgot that enemies could climb ladders. (I know, I know, I'm rubbish.) Roger didn't last much longer, but he got some good hits in before he died.

Things were looking bad, but I stayed further down the stairs than I have before and that let me open up some gaps in the flood of enemies trying to attack me. Enough of a gap for Jeanne to be able to transform and hack her way out.

(Gaming mechanic explanation time. Jeanne can tansform into a more powerful version of herself once she's built up enough skill points in a battle. Her best extra skill after transformation is Godspeed, which lets her move and attack again if she defeats an enemy, rather than her turn ending as it normally would. So if you've weakened some enemies down to the point where they're killable in one hit, you can send her all around the map slicing and dicing in a single turn. The transformation only lasts a couple of turns, but if you can create the right opening, the effects can be devasting.)

She killed, I think, four enemies in that one turn, two weakened enemy soldiers, a full-strength mage and a full-strength priestess. The magic users tend to hang back, but by using the soldiers as stepping stones I managed to get Jeanne out to them.

On the next turn, Liane was killed because she'd selflessly been healing Jean rather than herself, but that wasn't enough to stop me. Turn nine came around, the final enemy fell and Jean and Jeanne stood proud on the battlefield. Hoorah!

It's amazing how powerful Jeanne's transformation can be if the conditions are right. Getting those conditions, though, is the hard part. You can certainly improve those odds - like leaving two routes down the stairs by defending lower down - but I think luck's always going to play a part, except for those really anal types who pour over moves for half an hour at a time and can remember how much different attacks do against different enemies.

Jeanne D'Arc (PSP)

Oh, bother!

I was doing well, with a slightly modified version of my previous tactics, when I forgot that Jeanne had to survive this battle and sent her off into the middle of a scrum of enemies, without even noticing she only had half a health bar. A stupid, stupid death and a richly deserved Game Over screen.

Halo 2 (360)

I've discovered something. Using the Needler and the shotgun is the way to go on Easy. Oh, and that sword thing, whatever it's called. It starts to feel more Quake-like and is a lot of fun.

Jeanne D'Arc (PSP)

And after taking The Bastille of The Augustins, I then had to defend it. I had a cunning plan, which seemed to work okay. While the main force were forcing their way through the locked main gates, I took on Talbot, one of the main baddies, on the steps up to a turret, as he'd managed to sneak in. It took a long, long time to kill him, but I made it and then ran up and sat in the turret. A good defensive position, as only one enemy could get into an attacking position on the stairs each turn. (Which was what had led me to take so long to kill Talbot.) The main English force had broken through the gates by this point and I positioned my strongest character at the top of the stairs and had the others raining down offensive spells and doing healing.

All was well until all that was left was the enemy's priestess, a healing character with little or no offensive capability. Unfortunately, she decided to run away. Unfortunately, all levels in this game have a turn limit. I chased her, but she had a big head start and I only had Jeanne, Marcel and Liane left. Jeanne moves quite quickly, but Marcel and Liane are slow. For the last three turns I wasn't able to damage the priestess enough to kill her and on her turn she'd run further away and heal herself. At the end of my last turn I got her down to nine hit points. That's not a lot, but she was still alive and my time ran out and the Game Over screen appeared.

Never before, I don't think, have I been as exhilarated at failure. I'm itching to get home from work tonight and try again. This time: take out the healer early with whatever I've got. Maybe I should buy some more of those items that do magical damage when you throw them, if they're available in the shops. More ranged attacks are always good.

Whether the enemies auto-level or whether there's suddenly been a scripted difficulty hike I don't know, but the difficulty feels just about perfect right now. The enemies have a bit more health than my characters and there are more of them, so I'm having to think. And, you know, I nearly won.

I think next time I try I should bring in Jean instead of one of the other characters I used. On the stairs his two-square hit zone - not to mention his special Impale move - should make things quicker and easier... if I can keep him alive.

Jeanne D'Arc (PSP)

Well, forget what I was saying last time I played, about it being very easy. I've just taken the Bastille of the Augustins from the dastardly English, but not without a fight. In fact, when I won I only had one unit left - my archer, Marcel. It really was very exciting and felt very cinematic.

I probably could have won without losing almost all my units, too, but I was being a bit inept.

Halo 2 (360)

With Halo 3 just around the corner, I thought it might be a good time to finally see the end of Halo 2's single-player campaign. This means starting from the beginning again, unfortunately, so I've stuck it on Easy so I can blast through as quickly as possible.

On Easy it's quite good fun, but nothing very special in raw gameplay terms. I'm not having to use any tactics, and instead I'm just running around blasting anyone who needs to be killed and running past anyone who doesn't. I'm not quite invincible and have died carelessy a couple of times, but it's one of those games where Easy really, really means easy.

Of course, all the great incidental stuff is the same on Easy as the other levels. The Convenant design, the character dialogue, the action-movie-cool set pieces, all present and correct.

Folklore Demo (PS3)

Similar to Heavenly Sword; it looks lovely, but only feels okay to play.

It's all a bit repetitive, some of the timing is so tight it amounts to luck for a reaction-time-challenged thirty-something like me and you can't change the camera controls, which are the wrong way round on the x-axis. Nevertheless, I finished one character's part of the demo and started the second character's, only to quit out when it started giving me the same tutorial information all over again.

Quake 2 (PC)

As well as finishing Bioshock yesterday, I also finished this, but forgot to post about it.

It really is an exceptionally entertaining shooter. I was playing it through on Easy with sound off and was never bored or annoyed with it. The look of it still works, too, with the chunky design looking "classic" rather than "eye-breakingly horrible", even using the software driver (because the OpenGL version is far too dark on my PC, for some reason).

Excellent game all round and one that's stood the test of time very well indeed. It's not complicated, or deep, but as a fast-paced run-and-gun arcade shooter it's brilliant.

Now, if I can find a copy of the 360 version of Quake IV for less than a tenner I might be tempted to get that.

Bioshock (360)

Well, holding LB and RB on startup to delete the cache let me continue playing and, in a three-hour session, I managed to finish the game.

Overall, it was brilliant, but there were enough little niggles at the end to knock it down from 10 to a 9. Chief among these was the final boss encounter. The first time I played it, another enemy killed me when I was just finishing him off. The second time, the game glitched and the button I had to use to defeat the boss wouldn't work. The third time I defeated him, only for the final cut scene to flash up, followed by the game over screen. The fourth time, I won and the game didn't kill me afterwards. Phew.

Still, I'm a fan. I'm a fan of the world. I'm a fan of the posters up around Rapture. I'm a fan of the Big Daddies and Little Sisters. I'm a fan of the plasmids. I'm a fan of the crossbow. And the shotgun. And the machine gun. I'm a fan of the music. I'm a fan of the ghosts.

Bioshock (360)

Hmpf.

I was happily playing this, until after an hour or so it started freezing up for a couple of seconds every ten seconds or so.

Not the only one seeing the problem this evening and there was a patch when I started up, so I guess something's been broken. Way to go! Patches that break perfectly good games!

Jeanne D'Arc (PSP)

I'm way too levelled. In today's story mission I cut through the enemies like butter.

Excellent.

Jeanne D'Arc (PSP)

On to Chapter Two now. I seem to have over-levelled slightly, as the new members joining my team are three or four levels below the rest. Another side effect of doing so many Free Battles is that I've got more money than I know what to do with.

Three Demos (360)

I really haven't got anything to say about these, so I'll not split them up into separate entries.

Puzzle Fighter HD - I really thought I'd be buying this with the points I've got sitting in my account, but it failed to grab me.

Streets of Rage 2 - Found it very tiresome, but played until the end of the demo level.

Timeshift - Got a couple of checkpoints in, couldn't tell what was going on, got annoyed, turned it off.

Conclusion: This afternoon, I am not in the mood for games.