For the past couple of months, Far Cry 2 has been the game I’ve kept coming back to. I found that I took things quite slowly as I progressed through the game. I’m not one to rush things.

I never looked into the multiplayer aspects of the game so I can’t speak for them at all. I have read that it has quite a comprehensive map editor and map community, which is great, but this just doesn’t interest me right now.

My save game is now at 50% after playing for a little over 24 hours (according to the in-game timer). I’ve decided now that I’ve had enough.

I feel like I’ve now experienced everything that the game wants me to experience. I’ve been into every map square (I have a trophy to prove it), I’ve unlocked every weapon and piece of equipment (another trophy), I’ve experienced the highs and lows of working with buddies, and I’ve undertaken some major plot missions that resulted in blowing up huge things and assassinating the same people that were issuing me missions early on.

At this halfway mark, the story has taken a turn. My character was originally sent to take out “The Jackal” but at this halfway mark, new discoveries reveal that perhaps the guy ain’t so bad after all. He saved me twice before running back into hiding.

Also at this halfway mark, the game has shifted into a whole second map, the same size as the first. This was exciting at first, but once I found my way around, I realised it was just more of the same. A beautiful map, for sure, but the missions and so on were going to fall along the same path.

I was ensnared by the game and enjoyed the experiences. Now it’s time to move on.

So, that’s it for me for this game. I have plenty more to play anyway. And Fallout: New Vegas has been released. As soon as I can justify it, I can’t wait to get my hands on it.

So to see Super Mario Bros. and Dance Dance Revolution showing up in those books amongst hundreds of other nods was really great to see and a lot of fun.

Which brings me to the Scott Pilgrim game.

Fun.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAY4vNJd7A8

Epic fun. I mean even that trailer screams fun!! Retro nostalgic fun which completely suits the comic book and I assume (because I am completely devoid of any real free time in which to see it) the film. It’s interesting as I’m wondering if this is more a comic book adaptation game or a film adaptation.

The look and feel screams the comic book.

I love the mock 8bit graphics and the comic style that seem to just jump off of the screen and make me consider how well games like Double Dragon would shape up if only given a refresher rather than a complete overhaul. It’s completely appropriate for my mind to wander to Double Dragon as this game pays as much homage to it as it does Mario Bros.

The moves are extremely satisfying and the game play is challenging enough that it transcends a simple side scroller. I actually installed the demo off of the PSN first and was so hooked by the end of the first level that I had bought the upgrade to full game almost before realising it.

I was surprised though to hear that it is not available on the Wii which I would have suspected it would have been right at home with its graphics. Who knows, maybe they’ll strike a deal with Nintendo eventually…

If you are a fan of Scott Pilgrim then the game is perfect. If you just enjoy a fun side scroller then this game is perfect.

There are a couple of things I think that stand out as obstacles in the path of being completely drawn into the game.  The first is the controls which I’m not enjoying at all.  I haven’t checked but I expect you can remap the controls as you can with a lot of games these days.  But even so there is so much wrapped around what you can do that remapping would ultimately prove just as confusing without a lot of planning.

I’m sure given a bit more time I will get used to them and become more efficient but I find myself scrabbling to work out the draw and firing buttons and have blown a couple of mini missions because of this.

I find moving the horse around tight spots is annoying but again the more I do it the more comfortable I’m getting.

The second thing and I guess this is really a very minor point and one that I’m sure a lot of people won’t agree with but there are a lot of cut scenes.  A lot of storyline which is good I’m sure but I feel like I spent the first twenty minutes playing watching cut scenes.  This doesn’t suck me into the game.

I’ll get over all of this I’m sure, but with so many games vying for my attention it’s hard not to throw this back into the pile and pick up another.

Ultimately, I think I am a little disappointed. Not a whole lot but definitely at least a little.

I get the gaming appeal of elements such as the unexpected onslaught of malaria. I get the presence of the factions and their need to defend their territory. But some of it just feels a bit irritating. Lee mentions these things in his own review: the malaria, the fact that road checkpoints you previously cleared are re-populated by hostiles again just moments later. Lee described that last point as tedious and I could not agree more. Also, I find the mechanics of driving a bit clumsy (though better than some other games, I must admit).

Everyone raves about the game’s engine, with its excellent grasp of day/night atmosphere, visually stunning and realistic fire effects and its clever ability to adapt the music to the situation. I agree with the first two points, but the third – the music – I found was a little annoying at times. Occasionally the music would switch back from action music to the more pleasant ambient music, despite the fact that an enemy was just a few metres in front of me (but couldn’t see me). These music changes occasionally took me out of the moment.

Oh – and one other thing. I arrived at an antenna that had a glowing box on it. Something glowing usually indicates you can interact with it in some way. But I had no option to interact in this case. I shot at it. I pressed buttons. But, no. Nothing. Don’t make it glow then! A bit of googling reveals what this is for, but I shouldn’t have to do that.

Despite all this, there are elements to the game that I like. The “buddy” system seems pretty clever; the ability to sneak up on enemies works well (when it works); the enemy AI, when fighting, is pretty clever (though not always); the mission acquisition and map browsing systems are clear and intuitive. I also like how the GPS works.

Some elements need improvement. Lee talked about a few changes he would make and I would take it a bit deeper than that.

The game is nearly two years old now, but with all of the hype around its game engine, I expected better visuals (apart from the fire), but perhaps that criticism is a little unfair.

Nonetheless, I’m going to push on. The missions are interesting and compelling enough that I want to keep going, despite the tedium involved in getting from A to B. Tedium is something I remember being a problem of the first Assassins Creed game: how tedious it became to go through each task. That was fixed in Assassins Creed II; maybe they can fix it in Far Cry 3?

One of the other things I identified was my attachment to games that I’ve enjoyed and in the case of the Playstation 2 games that I probably will never play again (or for the first time in a couple of cases).  I really wanted to finish the Transformers game on the PS2 but I’ve moved to the Transformers game on PS3 and I don’t honestly think there is any turning back.That’s not to say they weren’t great games but there just isn’t enough time in the day for me to go back and play them.  So the reality check is that they really should go.

So we tried selling a couple on eBay and with any consumer electrical peripheral there is a chance that it’s not going to work on someone’s set up despite being tested on my system and working fine.  And that would be okay too but there is a new, dimmer breed of eBay customer who don’t know how to act within a society*, I assume these are the same people leaving comments on YouTube.

So I snapped this morning and decided that I would take 51 of my games over to EB Games** to trade them in, to be honest I just wanted them out of the house.  I called up my local EB Games and asked if they were okay with my bringing in fifty odd games at once and they were perfectly happy and explained that they couldn’t give me a quote over the phone, which was fine because I wasn’t expecting it.

So I packed up the piles of games and ducked down to the shop.  On the way I tried to work out what figure I’d be happy with and again secretly I just wanted them out of the house so I doubt I would need my arm twisted too much even if it were a low price.

I already marked the games missing manuals and the one game that was in the wrong box (how I bought it originally) and they went through and checked the discs.  The entire time the man I spoke to on the phone was engaging and we chatted about games  and movies whilst he went through the games.  He also dealt with other customers professionally as he advised them that he was unavailable to serve them despite their rather rude demands despite there being another clerk standing there ready to help them.  Full credit to the guy!

Once he tallied it all up and explained why some games didn’t fetch as much due to some mild scratching I was more than happy with the price and the fact that I had the option of store credit or cash (the cash amount slightly lower but not unreasonably so and understandable).  I won’t say how much it was because I’d rather not put that expectation out there for anyone else but it was a figure well above my safe mark.

So I traded most of my PS2 games and walked away with:

I’m pretty happy with the whole thing actually, I managed to save myself a lot of effort (remember that time is really valuable) and I got to pick up Red Dead Redemption which I’ve been eyeing off since it came out and two Lego games that I’ve had recommended to me numerous times in the past but never been moved enough to get it. The other thin was they had a three for two deal so I really did make out like a bandit.

But as I’ve already alluded too one of the most rewarding aspects was the customer service and the complete lack of pain involved in the whole process.

Good work EB Games!

*Yes we got burnt with a simpleton who upon realising that a certain game didn’t work, apparently went and got it cleaned three times before contacting us with threats to leave bad feedback before actually engaging in any dialogue.  If you’re on eBay and especially if you are new on eBay, don’t be that person.

**I or Mashing Buttons in general am not associated with EB Games Australia, this is an unsolicited post.

It takes time and effort and I admit I’m pretty chuffed. It took me an afternoon to get from the 84% I was at already in Assassins Creed 2 to the 100% mark. And some of those little extra tricks were pretty… well… tricky!

Just in time for dinner

The last one was to take out 10 guys in a row without getting hit and without leaving fight mode. This meant running around trying to find enough guys to gather together all at once, and then taking them all out as quickly as possible. For those who want to know how to do this, the key to it is to use smoke bombs. This stuns them enough to be able to assassinate them two at a time – you’ll need at least two bombs, though.

Achieving one platinum trophy gave me the urge to try and get another, but going through my games, I can see it won’t be easy. Games with trophies requiring online interaction (e.g. get your character to Level 50 in online multiplayer) mean that sometimes you might be depending on others to help you get that platinum, which can be tough. The other hurdle is that some games don’t let you choose which chapter/level you want to drop into. So, you might have to play all the way  through again just to get it. Darn!

Assassins Creed 2 has no online mode and allowed chapter selection, so achieving the platinum was comparatively easy. It may not be so easy elsewhere, however. I’m thinking Final Fantasy XIII or Uncharted will be my next targets for the elusive platinum trophy.

The animals

There was a couple of seconds of terror realised as I fell into the water the very first time in Far Cry 2 because I come from Australia where we have crocodiles that sit in our northern waterways (nowhere near where I live but still there’s an awareness). When I fell into the murky waters of that river I thought about having to get out as soon as possible as I was probably going to get attacked by an aligator or a hippo. Then I checked online and discovered that no animal will hurt you in the game and that there aren’t any dangerous animals featured.

This was a disappointment. I didn’t want any overkill of course where if you fall in the water five seconds later you’re always being attacked but some random encounters with snakes, lions, aligators would have been welcomed and added to the overall reality of the Far Cry 2 world.

Nobody likes you

One of my main critisms is that it doesn’t matter where you go outside of the main towns everybody is going to take a shot at you. This adds to the pain of having to drive from one side of the map to the other because you know you will be attacked several times no matter what.

Even if they did it so as your reputation gets higher they start thinking about whether they’ll attack or not would add another element to a game.

When you go to the cock fights, a place I assume they want people to visit and gamble I don’t see any reason for them to start shooting at me immediately.

Some cars are useless

There are a bunch of Jeep vehicles included in the game as advertising/product placement which I don’t have a problem with at all but the problem with all of these real world cars is that they are completely useless because you have to get out of them to fight unlike the mounted gun jeeps. Because of the point I just made you can’t just drive along and not get into fights, so you are actually disadvantaged by using one of these cars which make them the worst advertising ever.

Random alien encounter!!

As I was creeping along in the dark during the middle of the night I thought what an awesome easter egg would beif you saw a UFO flying in the night sky. Not something obvious but if you happen to be looking then you’d see it. Then of course I thought how awesome would it be if one of those grey aliens suddenly popped its head around a tree trunk in the middle of the night!?

I know it’s probably just me but I think it would be hilarious and scary as hell! Plus the idea of chasing ET through the night jungle with my shot gun or flamethrower adds so much to the concept!!

Anything that I’ve missed?

I got a really cheap pre-owned copy and then it sat on the shelf amongst Modern Warfare’s and Flashpoint’s which I worked my way through until I randomly called it up to the majors.

Little did I know at that stage that Far Cry 2 would provide me with literally hours and hours of entertainment.

The setting itself is a fictional African nation in the midst of civil unrest caused mainly by a notorious arms dealer known as “The Jackal” who has supplied weapons to both factions fighting within the country. It is this Jackal that you have been sent into the country to assassinate to try and reestablish order.

Of course plans don’t go to plan and you are left with a nasty case of malaria and a need for cash and places to crash.

You are recruited by the local factions and you go to work, running little side ops for them and missions with friends that you make through the course of the game.

For me the story is a secondary but serviceable storyline to set up the scenario and to be honest towards the end I kind of lost track of it all and started to simply go with the flow and kill whomever or blow up whatever.

The ending itself involving the Jackal was particularly confusing for me as characters seemed to change their whole perspective on stuff, although it didn’t really concern or detract from the experience.

The gameplay itself and the open world experience is really what made this such an engaging experience. The environmental engine is extraordinary, you have the cycle between night and day, vegetation, animals and a second to none fire system.

Far Cry 2 The Apprentice - You're fired!

The fire system is really powerful to a point that you can use your arsonist tendencies to your tactical advantage as massive bush fires rage through outposts and villages. Of course when you are firing a rocket launcher and it lights the tree up behind you on fire and you are caught in the middle of it the appreciation is slightly lost.

Yes, you can have a flame thrower. Yes, it is as fun as it sounds!

Mentioning the rocket launcher brings me to the awesome weaponry that you can find or eventually buy through the game. When you are given a mission to assassinate someone and because you just happen to be carrying a bazooka you aren’t forced into not using it. In fact you can stand up on the hill, nice, safe and sound and blow that poor bastard to smithereens.

Another nice feature of the game is the in game use of a GPS and map. You actually have to take the map out and look at it as you are wandering around, stare at it too long and deeply and you might miss some dude taking a shot at you.

The vehicles are really interesting as well, there are Jeeps and 4x4s modelled off real vehicles (with optional extras) and if your car gets damaged you have to repair it.

The malaria component to the game adds a little extra dimension to the game and forces you on missions that you may not have normally taken if you are as cold blooded as I in game land*. I’ve since discovered too that every time a wave of malaria would overtake me in an inopportune moment was to do with real time rather than convenience in the game story.

The game is not without its problems as with any game I guess. There were the occasional glitch here and there but ultimately one of the core strengths turns out to be a weakness. The open world environment tends to become tedious as you find that every mission sees you having to travel long distances through always hostile checkpoints, I found myself walking places just to avoid the hassle of being shot at on the road all the time.

Overall I really enjoyed the game, it brought me a lot of hours of engagement, many more than I expected as it was weeks that it took which means that I really got my money’s worth out of it!!

I highly recommend Far Cry 2.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars

*Actually that’s not completely accurate, I always tried to avoid running over the chickens!

I’ve played a few Transformers game in my time, most recently the Autobots/Decepticons games that were released around the same time as the 2nd (Michael Bay) Transformers movie. Since then, I’ve noticed two more Transformers games released: G1 Awakening for iPhone (which has been around in one form or another since 2008) and the just-released Transformers: War for Cybertron. What’s interesting about these two games is that they focus on the earlier years of the Transformers franchise rather than the more recent “re-telling” that are Michael Bay’s film interpretations. War for Cybertron concentrates on the pre-Earth days on Cybertron. Here we get to witness when Starscream first joins Megatron and when Optimus Prime rises to become leader of the Autobots after the death of Zeta Prime.

I have to admit I’m enjoying this one. The visuals are good (though not great), the sound is great and the general story is quite interesting to an old fan like myself who still remembers seeing the original animated movie in the 80s.

On the topic of the visuals, I’m finding myself a little frustrated. The screenshots that are out there (like the one above) make the game look incredible — but I can’t seem to re-create that for myself. And I suspect the problem isn’t so much the quality of the visuals but of the in-game lighting. I’m not seeing a lot of the rich detailed textures because the lighting is too dark or there’s a lack of contrast between my character and the surroundings (metal transforming characters battling in a metal transforming world). This is something that could probably be fixed in a sequel – or maybe even in a patch – but as it is I’m not a fan of this. I might have to play with the settings somewhere to see if I can improve this.

I haven’t had a chance to try the multiplayer mode but, from a quick browse of the relevant in-game multiplayer menus, it looks quite rich and engaging. You can customise your characters (I coloured all of my Decepticons pink) and the different styles of character you can play and customise reminds me of the class-dependent play of Team Fortress 2 (no, really!). The class abilities include invisibility, dashing and so forth. They each transform into different styles of vehicle too.

And this is probably a good time to point out that, although they all look a lot like the robot modes we know so well, in vehicle mode they are distinctly Cybertronian. Optimus Prime is a truck but it’s a funny looking Cybertronian truck. Megatron is a tank. Starscream is still a jet — but a jet that can hover.

Another feature that seems to be appearing in games everywhere is “Escalation”. You may know it as Survival mode in games like Left 4 Dead – wave after wave after wave of enemies to battle through. This is online, too, so I haven’t had a chance to play it but it also looks great.

So, if you get it for PS3, let me know and we’ll have to play online sometime. I’m looking forward to trying out the co-op campaign, which supports up to 3 online players!

If this game has a sequel, they could produce something pretty incredible. Nonetheless, as a game now, I’m looking forward to playing it some more.

More info at the official website: http://www.transformersgame.com/

After 29 hours, I'm worried about that '0' before the 29. How many hours is this going to take??

When do I get to the good bit?

I took a break from Final Fantasy XIII to play Red Dead Redemption (I’ll write up something on that eventually) but recently decided to return to Cocoon to see if I couldn’t push through.

What is really starting to drag about FF is that I’m still in a linear world. I’m going from battle to battle without any useful respite in between. In terms of the game’s plot, I understand why it is this way: we’re fugitives on the run from just about everyone. But we’ve been running for a very long time now and, well, it’s starting to get boring. Still, I feel like I’m getting very close to what is likely to be a major plot point.

To make up for all that, the game remains so incredibly visually captivating. My jaw hangs open in awe at how beautiful the game is, and not just because I’m yawning at the repetitive gameplay.
The storyline, too, is darn interesting and worth following. It’s just a shame that, so far after 29 hours, I feel like I’m just helping the game to play itself.