I have many fond memories from round about the turn of the millennium playing online matches with friends and strangers alike over dial-up on the MSN Gaming Zone.  Those were the days!

In many respects, Age of Empires II was the perfect real-time strategy game.  The perfect historical setting, great single player campaigns, and the game play that was simple enough to pick up, but took ages to truly master.  In fact, there were so many units, different terrain, and strategies you could employ, there was more depth than you realised.

There was only one problem though.  The game was built on an old graphical subsystem (pre-DirectX) and soon ran into compatibility issues with modern operating systems a few years down the line.

Then there was Age of Empires III.  For me it was a bit of a let-down.  Everything from the time period, to the slow game play, and the high computer spec requirements.  More recently there was Age of Empires Online- classic Age of Kings gameplay but the game was more of a MMORPG than RTS.

What I really wanted was Age of Kings II.  What was my idea for Age of Kings II?  The same time period as Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, but improved graphics, more civilisations, and new campaigns but with the same great Age of Kings game play.

I’ll therefore admit that Age of Empires II: HD Edition came as a bit of a  shock, but I completely understand why the developers have gone for this option.  Sure, the graphics are a bit dated by today’s standards, but the game play is brilliant, and the game behaves and functions much as it always has.

For me, the main improvements are: population cap increased to 500, improved water graphics, higher resolution monitor support, and Steam integration.  Classic Age of Empires- a game we can now play for the next decade.  Raise your goblet to the king of real-time strategy games!

I just about kept on gaming because so many games in 2012 were a disappointment for me.  So what did I get up to?

Gotta catch ‘em all

I got the Jak and Daxter HD trilogy, but have so far only managed to play through the first game.  The game looks amazing, and the gameplay is exactly how I remembered it.  Naughty Dog make superb games.

Trying to collect every last Precursor is addictive, and well-worth the effort!

Back to Modern Warfare 3

I think I’m going to depart company with the Treyarch series of games.  Both Black Ops and Black Ops II have been nothing but disappointments, whereas I just can’t fault the entire Modern Warfare series.

Why you ask?  The usual- dropped games, errors, and the damn games freeze my PS3.  That’s almost unheard of.  Also, Black Ops II just isn’t as satisfying as a Modern Warfare match online.  It just doesn’t compare.

I may complete a bit of the Black Ops II single player campaign, but who knows?

Assassin’s Creed III

I’m really not impressed with the latest instalment in the Assassin’s Creed franchise.  The entire series reached it’s peak for me with Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, and has steadily gone downhill from there.

I found the initial section of the game playing as Haytham Kenway (yawn) to be extremely tedious and boring.  Even playing as Connor, I find the combat particularly difficult as I’m in danger of being shot to pieces every 5 minutes and the cover move just never seems to work for me.

I might get round to finishing the game, but i’ll imagine it’ll be a struggle!  Maybe Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag will revive the series?  Hmm…

I feel the need: the need, for speed!

If I could buy shares in Criterion Games, I would do.  Need for Speed: Most Wanted has been keeping me occupied at least since Christmas, and I’ve sunk about 50 hours into it (Uncharted 3 got about 40 hours from me).  The best bit?  I still want to get more out of it!

Spyro!

When I realised that all three Spyro the Dragon games were available on the PlayStation Store, it was a no-brainer!  I’ve completed them (again) whilst working through Most Wanted.

It’s a shame that Insomniac Games abandoned the Spyro series all those years ago as they’re still some of the best platform games out there.

***

These are just some quick thoughts I’ve jotted down.  I may well expand on the Assassin’s Creed Series and Need for Speed.  Until the next time!

Hi everyone.  Unfortunately this gaming blog was hacked on 2 June 2012, and went offline shortly after.  See, it’s not just O2 that’s been having problems!

Today (12 July 2012) I have managed to restore most functionality.  Please bear with me over the next few days as I make sure everything is behaving as it should be.

Los Havros will continue to be a small, independent gaming blog for as long as I can continue to maintain it.  We’re going nowhere!

Long live play!

To be honest Criterion had me at Burnout 2: Point of Impact (2002), so trusting them to serve up another sublime racing game is pretty easy, and who can forget Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (2010)?  Superb.

Let’s not forget though that as far as big releases go, Criterion Games have put their ‘Burnout’ IP on ice for the foreseeable future and are continuing moonlighting under the ‘Need for Speed’ brand.  I honestly don’t have a problem with this as long as the top-notch quality racing games keep coming.

However Joystiq seems to have an interesting theory: ‘Need for Speed: Most Wanted is a secret return to Paradise‘.  Well-worth a read.  See also: Need for Speed: Most Wanted- Official site.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012) will be released across the EU on 2 November 2012.  I can’t wait!

A few years ago, a friend recommended to me that I read a series of comic books called “The Walking Dead“.  And I was hooked!  The series was focused on the survivors and their reaction to the zombie apocalypse as opposed to how many zombies could get their head bashed in before the next chapter.  It’s a fantastic comic book series, and if you haven’t read it I recommend going out and picking up the omnibus right now.  So naturally, I was very excited to find out they were making a TV series based on the books!  GREAT!  As long as you ignore the majority of the second season.

So we’re going to ignore the show right now because the game is much better.  It is so true to the comic books.  I’m one of those people who when a book I love is adapted into a movie or a TV show or whatever, I want to see the story remain as much intact and not messed with as much as possible.  The Hunger Games managed pretty well, Harry Potter forgot about the existence of Peeves, and The Walking Dead series was adamant Hershel’s farm was worthy of an entire season and strange scientists who offered you showers in the middle of an apocalypse would also try and blow you up.

The game however is not the same story you will read in the comics. It’s a story told alongside the original story; it adapts from it. It doesn’t mess with a story you love and ruin it (yes, I have issues with the TV show).

You play as an entirely new character, Lee, and his story develops and you learn more about him the deeper you delve into the game- much like the comic series.  I don’t want to talk too much about his storyline, or what I’ve discovered of it, because I don’t want to spoil it.  It’s much more fun to discover it for yoursel!  I also loved that I could explore the storylines of characters from the comic book series before we meet them in the books.  But their stories aren’t messed with.  It fits in.  If you’ve read the comic or watched the series you’ll recognise Hershel, Glenn and Lilly (although it took me a while to recognise who Lilly was, b*tch). You meet Hershel’s son, Shawn, before he ends up in the barn.  We see what Glenn is up to before heading into Atlanta city.  And Lilly… no one likes her.

The main chunk of the story (or where I spent most of my time) happens when you’re trapped inside a pharmacy (I think that’s the equivalent of an American drug store), and you have to interact with the environment to help out the other survivors. The one thing I have no particularly strong feelings about is Clementine.  An 8-year old girl who Lee rescues/is saved by and you kind of… babysit.  It’s nice to have someone there who the character you play as has to make moral decisions based on, but the game could function perfectly well without her.  I don’t know, I mean.. I like her.  But if she wasn’t there I wouldn’t mind.  I hope she’ll contribute more in future episodes because I do like her and everyone makes a big deal out of her… I just haven’t got it yet.

Before I started playing this I hadn’t really done any research into it.  I didn’t know what type of game it was (other than the obvious… a zombie game, duh).  But the gameplay and controls shocked me.  Some parts felt like an elaborate quick-time event system, some parts felt like a 3D point-and-click system with third person controls.  All overlaid with a four-way conversation chooser thing.  And I liked it.  It worked.

The game is not a zombie shooter. It is not about killing as many zombies as you can. It’s about surviving.  This game is not Left 4 Dead or Dead Rising.  So the fact I couldn’t raise my axe and swing didn’t bother me. The controls were relative to the situation Lee was in.  It’s hard to describe because the way you controlled the game differed all the time!  Totally not in a bothersome way but in an “OMG THIS IS AWESOME” way.  It was totally weird to begin with, but I think it helped to build tension because you couldn’t control it how you wanted.

At one point I’m backed against a car with a zombie crawling towards me.  All I can do is move my head and pick things up. I can’t run away.  I find I can pick up a shotgun and a shotgun shell. But it’s so slow. Come on Lee!  He tries to load the shell but it doesn’t work.  The zombie is practically on top of me and I try to reload again.  I manage to roughly aim at the zombies head and BOOM… safe. It was great being able to control it the way I did.  Because really… I couldn’t.  Not like a conventional zombie game.  I was in a panic!  I didn’t want to die! Who cares about reloading… that didn’t even cross my mind ! I couldn’t let Lee die!  It was so tense!!

On top of all that, you have to make choices.  Big, fat, juicy choices.  As far as I can tell, they don’t affect the outcome of the game greatly… OK, there’s maybe one choice that will.  But they force you to choose your morals in the heat of the moment.  Yup, they’re on a timer.  No sitting there deciding how paragon or renegade you are.  Just choose!

I liked how whatever you decided on, a little UI element would pop up and tell you what the character you’re talking to felt about whatever you just did.  Most follow along the lines of “Clementine will remember you checked up on her”.  Without really thinking about it, I lied to Hershel.. in my head I was trying to protect Clementine… these guys didn’t need to know I just sort of picked her up and took her… I’m protecting her!!  So I told him I was her babysitter on my way out of Atlanta. He didn’t believe me.  He shouted at me!  Thankfully that was all he did.  Later on, Lee isn’t so lucky.  What really surprised me was after completing the game was a bunch of stats comparing the choices I made to the choices other people made whilst playing the game!  Ooo, I love stats!  I was being judged all along!  It makes me want to play it differently and see what trouble I can cause!

In keeping with how similar this is to the comic books.. it looks exactly like a coloured-in chapter!  The biggest comparison is how close Hershel, Glenn and Lilly look to their comic book counterparts. I had to flick through my books just to double-check.  Even the farm is exactly the same.  I love how the characters are 3D in their environment but they’re comic book stylised.  You can see the pencil lines.  Or the subtle shading of the blood on Lee’s shirt. And the curls in Clementine’s hair.  It just made me feel like I was playing an interactive chapter of the comic book.  Oh wait.. I was!!

My favourite part of this game was whilst rescuing Glenn.  And we all know Glenn is a sucker for a damsel in distress, so we have to rescue another survivor before he’ll return to the pharmacy with us.  What ensues is an elaborate chunk of gameplay where you have to sneak through a motel car park full of zombies.  It really makes the most of moral choices, the control system and the graphics to make this a great scene.  I don’t know if that’s the demo level, but it should be… And for £3.50 (I played it on Xbox 360, so 400MSP) it’s more than worth it!  It’s short, I completed it in two and a half hours, but it felt like longer because I was so absorbed.  I really can’t wait until the next one is released.. oh yeah, there’s going to be eight episodes!!!!  Eight!  So excited.

Once upon a time, the handheld gaming market was dominated solely by Nintendo and its Gameboy brand. But now, with many iOS and Android devices offering cheaper and more accessible alternatives to the DS, 3DS, and PSP, the portable gaming market has become extremely competitive.

Sony has responded to this threat with the PS Vita, their second handheld gaming console. After spending some time with the Vita, I have been impressed with the system, and believe that it is capable of providing a compelling portable gaming experience.

First things first, the hardware is great. It is a robust machine with a sleek design that has managed to incorporate a lot of features. Along with a crisp 5-inch OLED screen, the PS Vita comes equipped with a d-pad, two analogue sticks (are you watching Nintendo), four face buttons, two shoulder buttons, touch screens on the front and back of the system, rear and front facing cameras, and a six axis motion sensor. Not bad for a system that measures 7.2 inches end to end.

Sony has made it abundantly clear that they wanted to create a handheld platform that can reproduce console quality titles. This means that no compromises were made when developing the Vita. As a result, the controls are tight, the system has excellent graphics, and the launch line-up is extremely solid.

Arguably the most impressive of the early Vita titles is Uncharted: Golden Abyss. Although Golden Abyss cannot match the visuals and presentation of Uncharted’s PS3 cousins, the game provides a fantastic experience that would not look out-of-place on a console. As with Nathan Drake’s other adventures, expect the six to eight-hour campaign to have you jumping, climbing, and shooting your way through South American jungles and ancient ruins.

While Uncharted demonstrates what the Vita is capable of, BigBig’s Little Deviants makes the most of the Vita’s features. The game takes full advantage of the motion controls and rear facing cameras to create a series of augmented reality levels from the world around you (much like the AR cards for the 3DS).

Certainly Little Deviants is fast paced, frantic, and fun, but the whole game feels more like a demonstration of the Vita’s alternative capabilities than a title worthy of your prolonged attention.

Perhaps my favourite Vita release is Rayman Origins. As a direct port of the critically acclaimed console version, Rayman Origins boasts a wonderful art direction, a fitting soundtrack, and some of the finest 2D platform gameplay seen on this generation of consoles. Unfortunately, the lack of lack of a 2-4 player multiplayer makes it difficult to recommend this version over the console original.

The biggest problem for the PS Vita, however, is Sony’s pricing strategy. Many may balk at the £259.99 for the 3G edition, but on top of that gamers are forced to shell out another £37 for a 16 GB memory card. Smaller memory cards are available, but if you want to download games and movies on your Vita, a 16GB card is the minimum requirement.

With all things considered, the Vita is at the pinnacle of portable gaming. I have been genuinely impressed with the Vita, as it is able to offer console quality experiences on a handheld system. But if Sony wants to sell more units than the 3DS, and steal market share away from mobile gaming, I suggest that they review their inflated prices.

I’ve actually got enough content in Modern Warfare 3 to keep me going for most of the year: there’s the single player campaign to complete on Veteran, the Special Ops missions that I haven’t even had a chance to look at yet, and multiplayer to prestige at least once.

Since coming back to Modern Warfare 3 I’ve found myself playing one of the new game types introduced in this iteration, Kill Confirmed.  I prefer Kill Confirmed to most other game types as it tends to favour my preferred gameplay style which is close-quarters with an assault rifle or sub machine gun.  Those afraid to get their boots muddy need not apply.

So overall on the gaming front I’m lying low so far this year.  I’m going to try the new maps for Modern Warfare 3 and see if I can otherwise get my money’s worth out of this Call of Duty Elite subscription I’m signed up for.  The only game temping my wallet so far is The Jak and Daxter Trilogy.

So, what are you up to so far this year in video game land?

The Uncharted series has always been a firm favourite of mine, from as far back as 2007 when Drake’s Fortune burst onto the scene.  I had never been a fan of third-person shoot-and-cover games, but I really liked platformers and action adventure games.  So what changed my mind?

Drake’s Fortune delivered the complete package for me: amazing graphics, an atmospheric musical score, a great storyline, likeable, believable and lifelike characters that you really cared about, and at it’s heart- absolutely rock-solid gameplay.

Among Thieves

2009 marked the year that most of the world woke up to the realisation that the Uncharted series of games was something special.  Naughty Dog took everything that they’d learnt from Drake’s Fortune and made the game more action-packed and cinematic with some amazing levels and a wider range of enemy classes.

Adding to this heady mix was groundbreaking technology that enabled the player to carry on with gameplay whilst inside a collapsing building and having a shoot-out on a moving  train.  The scale of those achievements alone, should not be underestimated.

With Uncharted 2: Among Thieves the bar was raised by the release of a highly cinematic game, but with the core gameplay that we all knew and loved from Drake’s Fortune remaining intact.  Let’s go for a hat-trick then, shall we?

Drake’s Decption

Make no mistake, this game is a masterpiece.  What has been achieved by the Naughty Dog team has surpassed my wildest expectations.  The game is even more cinematic than ever: from the burning inferno of a château, to a cruise ship on stormy seas and a fight-out on a cargo plane- this game has it all.  At a cost, which I’ll get to.

Before I start to pick holes in the game, I’d like to share with you what the Naughty Dog team developed for the cruise ship level.  Buried away on the game disc is a documentary piece that explained that originally they were going to ‘cheat’ to simulate the effect of the cruise ship on stormy seas…

Instead, some genius made it possible to simulate the real thing.  The result?  An entire level floating on a fully simulated ocean with dynamic waves that meant the cruise ship never moved the same way twice on playthroughs.  The player is also able to walk on the ship’s walls when it capsizes.  That’s just staggering.

You’re looking sharp

What hits you when you’re paying through Drake’s Deception is the quality of the graphics.  Apparently they’re not much of a step-up from the sequel, as opposed to the graphical jump from the first game to the second one.  You could have fooled me.  In some levels the graphics are verging on the photo-realistic, but a game of this complexity means that slight tearing of the graphics occurs frequently.

The hand-to-hand combat has been fleshed out and feels satisfying solid.  Yet a number of things have happened to the gameplay.  First up, the shooting mechanic has been tweaked somehow.  I can’t put my finger on what Naughty Dog  have done, but they’ve fiddled with it.  They have also disabled the ability to switch the over-the-shoulder view when shooting by default- a feature which is essential on higher difficulty playthroughs.

A more serious charge that can be levied at the game though, is the sacrifice of gameplay for added cinematic effect.  You have multiple levels in Colombia, Yemen, and the desert for example where you can’t go where you want.  The game forces you to turn around and carry on the pre-scripted path.  The Uncharted series has always been linear at its heart, but never has an Uncharted game ever felt so linear!  It suffocates the player, and it acted as a straight jacket on my enjoyment of the game.

Drake’s Glitches

Somehow, somehow, they broke parts of the game.  In a few instances (too many to mention), Drake is left without a gun, and you have to acquire one before tackling the enemies.  I can’t stress this enough: facing several enemies without a gun on the hard and crushing difficulty levels was not a pleasant experience.  I can’t tell you the amount of times I died running to pick up a gun off the floor, or trying to snatch a gun off an enemy in hand-to-hand combat whilst his friends were peppering me with bullets.  You couldn’t make this up!

I also went off the game’s pre-scripted path in Colombia looking for one of the games 100 hidden treasures scattered throughout the levels.  I led the young Drake up a set of steps and just as I reached the top (and the treasure) Drake fell out of the level.  In all my time playing the Uncharted series of games, that has never happened to me before.

Conclusion

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception is a great game, but not the best one out of the Uncharted series.  Looking back on my Uncharted 2 review, I was perhaps a bit too harsh on what was a sublime game.  So here’s my final thoughts for the entire series as it stands:

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception: 4 out of 5 STARS
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves: 5 out of 5 STARS
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune: 4 out of 5 STARS

So that means Uncharted 2 is the best out of the series so far, with the original and Uncharted 3 in joint second place.  Controversial?  Very!  But that’s my opinion.  I’d be very interested in anyone else’s point of view.