That is all…

1. Jedi Academy – Getting the most action right now
2. Forza 3 – Picked it up pre-owned  last week. Very good
3. Transformers: War for Cybertron – Great game!
4. Fable 2 – Another pre-owned bargain. Not bad for £4 but has issues
5. Mirrors Edge – Yet another pre-owned for £4. Not bad for what I paid.

I’ll be adding Limbo to that list after tonight too. Have been looking forward to playing it ever since the first screenshot I saw… meant to pick it up last night but I didn’t remember till it was too late to play.

Which brings me to the point of this post.

I only really gave it some thought this morning but it’s true… I have a lot of conflict in my gaming life. On the one hand I like to write about gaming and the various things I encounter while playing (even if only 2 people read it lol), but on the other hand I want to game… as much as I can. Having a full time job and other commitments, my time is limited on a night and I need to make a choice.

Often writing loses.

Like now. The last few months have been feeding a combination of Monster Hunter and Jedi Academy addictions, yet I have barely mentioned them here. Why? Well, mainly because I am too busy playing them really.. although there are other reasons.

Take Transformers: War for Cybertron for example. Came out on a Friday, completed it the next day, post was up by Tuesday (written on Monday but scheduled for Tues).  Did I not like the game? Far from it. The thing with TF: WfC is that after 11 hours of the single player campaign, I know all I need to know to talk about the story, the gameplay mechanics, the overall feel of the game from a fans point of view. I’ve played 3rd person multiplayer games before and this adds little new other than vehicle transformation, again, the depths are not hard to plumb.

11 hours of Jedi Academy multiplayer and I was still trying to master seemingly simple tasks such as swinging a damn lightsaber! 11 hours of Monster Hunter and most players will still be fighting the lightweight division of monsters and certainly still learning attack patterns and evasion basics (superman dives as last resort etc).

So yeah… if it takes me a little longer to talk about a game compared to others, it often just means either the game is so good I’m not pulling myself away to post about it, or I’m not convinced I have seen enough to make an accurate observation.

Then you get the Rogue Warriors of the world that only need 15 minutes of your time to play and can be summed up in just six short words

There is a post up at GamePolitics about the bad timing of the Red Dead Stats announcement in regards to the Schwarzenegger v. EMA SCOTUS ruling. As I understand it the issue here is, there are some concerns that the recent RDR stats announcement (players have murdered over 132 million virtual characters in-game since release) may back up claims regarding violence in entertainment, which may then have knock-on effects for the Schwarzenegger v. EMA SCOTUS outcome.

Firstly, Schwarzenegger, I’ve watched you;

• Throw a steel pipe through a guys chest (Let off some steam Bennet!)
• Murder innocents without a moments pause (Sarah Connor? BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!)
• Pin a guy to a wooden pole with what appears to be a 2 foot machete (Stick around!)

In fact hasn’t most of your money come from glorifying violence in entertainment?

Yeah yeah, ok that was shooting fish in a barrel so how about this…

If the RDR stats are shocking these mouthbreathers, can someone give a ballpark figure how many virtual soldiers lives have been lost in the boardgame, Risk? Should we start making a fuss about Risk teaching our kids to invade foreign countries and become powerful wartime strategists?

I’d like to know… At what point did control pads become dangerous weapons?

I’ve seen Blizzard do some questionable things over the years but this just takes the biscuit.

The first and most significant change is that in the near future, anyone posting or replying to a post on official Blizzard forums will be doing so using their Real ID — that is, their real-life first and last name

Yeah, has to be about the worst thing they could have done. As I write this, the forum thread has hit 953 pages. And it was at 942 when I started typing this post. Looks like I’m not the only one to think so.

Looking at it from Blizz’s point of view, it seems they have done this in an attempt to combat the trolls and spammers infesting the official forums. If people are forced to post under their real first/last name I guess the thinking is, they are less likely to post some racial insult or something. OK, I see the thinking, however…

Firstly, and I know this from experience, with 11 million subscribers, the portion of the playerbase that I’d describe as being “tossers” is very high. If I were still playing the game lets say, and I crush one of these “tossers” online a few times as he tries to gank me while on a mining run, or I post something reasonable on the forums but one of these nutjobs takes offense to it… under the old system the worst they could do is get my in-game name and harass me there. Under this new system players are not many steps away from having a little too much info.

Lets take a second and look to some other games for an example of the “internet tosser” in gaming. These are all examples from this year alone.

In January GamePolitics reported on a 16 year old teenager cutting his 46 year old father over a disagreement over tactics used during a game of FIFA on the PS3. When the father responded by turning off the TV/Console, the teenager went to the kitchen for a clean knife and stabbed his father in the neck.

An article posted in March details how a 17 year old Counter Strike player was stabbed in the head with a 12 inch knife in an internet cafe after being found to use ‘wall-hack’ cheats.

In June GamePolitics also reported on another Counter Strike related attack. Several months after being knifed in-game the 20 year old gamer tracked down his online enemy, who it turned out only lived a few miles away, then stabbed him in the chest to pay him back.

These are not isolated incidents either, I can sit and pull link after link up all day long on this subject.

Now, some may take these links as proof that video games cause violence, but because I’m not naive I see it for what it really means. Nutters are everywhere and need very little reason to set them off. If those guys played darts there is every chance that a loss or a disagreement over darts would set them off and cause the exact same reaction. Nutbags are everywhere.

As children we are taught not to talk to strangers, not to give personal info out to random people. We were taught caution, and for good reason. Then along comes a bunch of idiots like Facebook, Blizzard, etc, who think that those lessons of caution should be thrown to the wind and anyone who doesn’t has something to hide. The idiocy of it is jaw dropping. Even more so in a game like Warcraft which has spawned more nerd-rage outbursts than 90% of games that have ever existed.. or will ever exist. Give these mouthbreathers a first/last name combo and some of them are going to take it too far, I guarantee it.

Ironic that an attempt to unify an online community will essentially rend it in two. I never posted on the official boards (I don’t have the patience to wade through the rantings of semi-literate teenagers quite frankly), and were I still playing I know I wouldn’t even dream of going near the official boards ever again.

Gully Foyle, an illiterate space bum with zero prospects, has been trapped in space living in the only remaining airtight area of his ship (the Nomad), a 4×9 foot tool locker. For 6 months he lives like this, playing a dangerous game of Russian Roulette with air canisters, then one day a ship appears. Thrilled at the thought of rescue, Foyle sets off a series of distress flares to attract attention to himself. The ship draws level, then in an instant is gone along with any hope of rescue for Gully Foyle. This is enough to ‘wake’ Foyle up from a life of passivity and give him the drive he needs to get out of this situation. To hunt and kill whoever gave the order to leave him out there. All he has is the name of the ship, Vorga, and a a murderous thirst for vengeance.

Foyle is a great character. On the one hand you can get behind his quest for revenge and cheer him on in his mission, on the other hand, Foyle is a rapist and a murderer and probably has more bad traits than good. This is a man so consumed by revenge he will do anything to reach that goal. In one part of the book, after discovering that 2 of his 3 leads have had medical procedures performed on them, designed to stop the heart if sensitive information is about to be revealed, the third lead is knocked out cold and using Foyle’s cybernetically enhanced speed and hypnosis training, he removes his heart, then connects him back up to a pump system designed to keep blood circulating around the body without a heart. Threatening to keep him alive like this for a long, long time, Foyle soon discovers the information he requires.

Throughout the book, Foyle transforms from an uneducated space bum, to an intelligent, medically enhanced, ruthless killer… before finally becoming almost a God at the end. I really enjoyed the end, but can’t talk much about it without giving spoilers away so go check it out for yourself.

Everything I have read from the SF Masterworks range so far has been gold, and this was no exception. A solid 5/5

Next up is #6 on the Masterworks list, Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany

One thing bugs me… a LOT

So you start the game poor, destitute, and living from the gutter. When a mysterious lady implies we should buy the music box, the sister remarks;

5 Gold? We could eat for a week on that!

Fair enough.

Next, the sister and brother decide, what the hey, its a magical music box, lets buy it anyway. OK, so with no money the game asks me to complete a few ‘odd-jobs’ for NPC’s around town. Fine I think. About 10 minutes later I’m rolling 5 gold coins around my pocket ready to buy the music box.

Go back a little, remember when the sister mentioned something about eating for a week for 5 gold? And I just earned 5 gold in about 10 minutes. To be generous I’ll use in-game time, so not even close to the time it took for night to cycle to day. I can work a minimal amount, for less than a full day, and eat for a week on the proceeds? You have to wonder, perhaps if you got off your arse and did two or three days work maybe, just maybe you wouldn’t be living in the effing gutter you idiots!

If the main character is sleeping in a no walled shed with only a blanket to his name, has no food, no money, no prospects in life.. how about making it a little harder to earn a weeks food money than putting in 5 minutes work?

Kinda ruins the effect of trying to build up sympathy for your main protagonist if it turns out the only reason he is destitute is simply because he can’t be arsed doing a days work!

I kinda like the game, but man it has some serious issues. Job’s are ridiculous. Gaming distilled into it’s most basic form. Hit that button when this bar reaches here. Again. Again. AGAIN! Going back to the main point of this post, my character came from a life in the gutter yet within 30 minutes of spamming the blacksmith job I had over 10 thousand gold. I went to the smith as the shops shut, by sunrise I had 10 thousand gold.

When in-game systems contradict the storyline, something is very wrong.

This may be a long one, be warned

Great book, well I say book, it’s actually 4 collected in one. Starting off with the invention of anti-gravity fields (spindizzies), and anti-aging drugs enabling mankind to colonise the far reaches of space, the story twists and turns over the best part of a thousand years, going all the way to the end of the universe (and through the other side).

The first book deals with the invention of the spindizzy field and anti-aging drugs, plus the effect it will have on humanity and earth. The second tells the story of a boy trapped on a city that has gone ‘okie’ and set off for the stars. The third book follows the exploits of the city of New York on it’s final trip through the galaxy. Lastly, the fourth book is all about New York settling down planetside again, and the end of time itself.

Not a light read by any stretch of the imagination, and can sometimes be a little dull in places, but overall it was a really great book. The last two in the series were especially good, ‘Earthman Come Home’ and, ‘A Clash of Cymbals’.

Took a break from the SF Masterworks list after CIF and read Consider Phlebas, and Use of Weapons by Ian M. Banks. I had read The Player of Games some years ago but then promptly forgot it was part of a series and went off to read something unrelated by Banks. Now it’s been so long I can’t remember how it fits in so one for the re-read pile I think.

Both Phlebas and Weapons were great books. Both unrelated other than the involvement of ‘The Culture’, Phlebas is a Space Opera of sorts featuring Horza and his attempt to track down a ‘mind’ (ships computer) that is hiding out inside one of ‘The Planets of the Dead’. Lot’s of twists and turns and Banks trademark ‘nasty’ section is just as hard to read as always, cannibals with wire stripper type steel teeth extensions and a finger with a lot less meat on it than normal

Weapons was the more interesting of the two books imo but perhaps more because of the way it was written than anything. Two stories are told here, the main narrative moves forward as normal, the second starts some time after the ‘end’ of the book and moves backwards towards the end. Both stories head towards the same event. As you can imagine, this can sometimes be confusing, and towards the end, I found myself skipping back to the start to re-read something that made less sense at the time. Again, Banks trademark ‘nasty’ section is present here and the lead up to it is both intriguing and baffling. Why on earth is this man so afraid of white chairs? Well, you’ll find out why and then some. Banks seems to have made good use of the ‘nasty’ section here and used it as a distraction from the final twist in the tale. It is hinted at all the way through the book and by the end I was itching to find out what was going on with the white chairs so much I was blinded to the final twist. Great books, I intend to read a few more of The Culture series soon.

Hmm, what else? Ahh yes, while stuck in Japan I bought and read Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams. I’m ashamed to admit I had never read it, but not ashamed to admit I loved it! Very, very funny. Can see the influence it has had on many shows/books. Slapped me in the face with the end though.. I was hoping for closure not cliffhangers Another series I will be continuing to read.

On a recommendation from a friend I picked up Enders Game by Orson Scott Card. Finished that at the weekend. Very good book but I would have enjoyed it more if had I read it as a teenager I think. Aliens (Buggers) have attacked earth twice, been defeated twice, but are now on the way back for the third and final attempt. Earth is worried, so much so they are forcing young gifted children to go through brutal combat and military training in a place known as Battle School. The last best hope for humanity is a 6 year old child named Ender Wiggin who the powers at be do their best to destroy in the name of hardening him up for the task at hand.

I may have enjoyed it more as a teenager however I still found it hard to put the book down. Always something happening or something interesting hinted at over the next few pages.. very easy to get lost in. Nice couple of twists at the end, one obvious, one not so obvious. Only complaint I have is the two most interesting parts of the book (for me), Lock/Demosthenes, and Speaker for the Dead, are only touched on briefly towards the end despite being major parts of the story. Another series I’ll be going back to I think.

…and so that brings me up to date more or less. Currently about three quarters of the way through The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester (back to the SF Masterworks again for number 5 on the list) and so far, really enjoying it. More to follow when I get done.

Next up, Babel-17. Also ordered Lord Of Light, and The Fifth Head of Cerberus, so back to the SF list with a vengeance for the next few books. More to follow soon.

Given that it only came out on the Friday, you could be forgiven for thinking perhaps the game is not that long. Well, much as I’d have loved it to be longer, the truth is, I hammered the single player a LOT on Friday night and Saturday day/night. Once I got started, it was very hard to stop to be honest. The full game weighs in at around 10+ hours depending how you get on with the bigger battles.

As I mentioned in my last TF post, the gameplay is solid doing everything you would expect from a third person controlled shooter. The transformations  add something a little new to the genre however with vehicle forms being just as useful in most situations as robot forms (In some cases vehicle forms are actually essential to avoid high levels of damage during some of the bigger fights). The system feels very balanced and I found myself constantly shifting in and out of vehicle forms enough that it felt like second nature… as it should in a Transformers game. Flip to jet mode, turbo across the room to grab some health, quickly fire a few missiles, flip back to robot form – use special abilities/gun, back to jet form for evasive actions. The system feels.. well, it just feels right.

The story was particularly interesting to me as a Transformers fan, and Hasbro obviously agrees as TF:WFC’s take on a prequel to the events of the original animated series (and the 1984 movie) is now officially declared cannon in the Transformers Universe. For good reason too.

SPOILER ALERT

The game takes place in the middle of a civil war between the Autobots and the Decepticons. Featuring two campaigns, played chronologically, the first features Megatron and his quest to obtain Dark Energon which he intends to use to control Cybertron. The second campaign deals with Optimus becoming ‘The Last Prime’ and his attempt to cleanse Cybertron of the corruption Megatron has unleashed.

It’s a basic plot, but along the way fans will find much to enjoy here. Omega Supreme’s involvement is nothing short of epic in my opinion. The fight goes on for a long time, and while not always in direct confrontation with Supreme, he affects every step of your journey through that level. Starscream’s defection to the Decepticons was of particular interest for me. I’ve long been a fan of Starscream and his treacherous ways so to finally see something of his origins was really great, plus all his trademark attempts to overthrow Megatron and assume control are all present and accounted for.

High Moon have really done a great job at accurately portraying the characters largely as you remember them from the 80′s. The opening Decepticon cutscene shows Megatron annihilating one of his own underlings after being questioned on the logic of crashing his spaceship directly into Starscreams orbital station. If that doesn’t say ‘Megatron’ then I don’t know what does.

Having not played the Multiplayer much I can’t comment more than I did on the demo just yet, but the single player experience is everything and more any Transformers fan could ask for. I was happier with WFC than I was with the recent perversions to the franchise made by Michael Bay, as was a fellow Transformers fan who played the last 3 Decepticon levels with me. 3 Levels out of 10 convinced him it was better than Bay’s Transformers. Not only in terms of story, but also visually.

5/5 – I’d highly recommend this to any TF fan. Up there with Batman Arkham Asylum in terms of setting the bar for quality in licensed games.

Transformers: War for Cybertron (Xbox 360)
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