Xexyz

Red Dead Redemption: to Mexico!

Posted on 04/11/2013 Written by Xexyz

Use of the in-game satnav has helped with the cliff issue, but I've now reached a point in the story where this is no longer an issue. After a fraught crossing of the river by raft (during which I probably shot half the population of Mexico, I'm now running around areas of Spanish speakers and being attacked by bobcats. I don't think there's a way at the moment for me to get back to the US side of the river, so I hope there's noting that I've missed out on over there.

The game is just a bit too expansive, really, and I'm slightly put off by the amount of side missions and other bits and pieces that I know I'm not going to find and complete. I've decided to not worry about this, though, and my primary aim is to complete the story, ignoring the trophy list and multitudes of icons on the map. I do keep getting distracted by the strangers and herbs, though.

According to the Rockstar Social Club, I've now completed 36.8% of the game. I'm not sure if that's just the main missions or everything. Still some way to go, whatever.

Tomb Raider 3: awkward

Posted on 01/11/2013 Written by Xexyz

I bought the entire Tomb Raider series on Steam a while ago, and I was inspired to play something after a short conversation with Sue on Twitter.

@suekitchen But which game? Looks like TR2 or TR3. Not angular enough though!
— Tim Miller (@Xexyzx) October 31, 2013

I never completed Tomb Raider 3, despite loving the first two, so this was an obvious thing to try. It took quite a while to get it working on my work laptop, and then configuring it to use the Xbox 360 pad took even longer. I eventually settled an a scheme which meant I only needed to use the keyboard for crouching and walking slowly, and set off the the jungle.

The game looks a little rough nowadays, but that's not necessarily a bad thing given the paltry processing power of my laptop. Rendering at 1280 x 800 meant that the game ran really smoothly; the cumbersome controls were a much bigger hindrance. This was only part due to my inability to configure the 360 pad properly; the absence of a second stick to look around really hurts a game based around exploration.

It took a while to come across the first enemies. I shot a monkey because I was convinced that he was looking at me funny; later on i realised that the monkeys only attack if attacked first.

That's not true of the tigers. These took quite a few bullets to finish off, and bounded towards me very quickly. Lara's not really a conservationist.

I got stuck on this bit for ages, mainly because the controls just weren't responsive enough for me to be able to pull the switch, turn around, and jump into the wall cavity before the big spiky wall killed me.

Despite the issues, it was fun to revisit the game. As there doesn't seem to be a plan to remake TR2 and TR3 in the same way as Tomb Raider Anniversary, I may need to dig out my original PlayStation TR3 disc and play it on the PS3, which will overcome at least some of the control issues - plus, of course, in a month's time I'll be handing back this work laptop and have no idea if Steam will run on the next one.

DLC Quest – Live Freemium or Die: Completed!

Posted on 31/10/2013 Written by Xexyz

I started this a while ago, but unwisely didn't complete it at the time. While waiting for The Typing of the Dead Overkill to download, I had to rediscover the whole map, talk to everyone again, and spend ages wandering around trying to find out my current objective.

Live Freemium isn't as biting a satire as the first game (not that that was particularly vicious anyway), but instead looks to send up many aspects of gaming culture. The comedian simply parrots out lines from games; towards the end of the came there's a collectathon fetch quest just to get hold of a certain item; the most difficult enemies are zombies. As with the first game, the primary objective is to collect coins in order to buy new abilities or optional random stuff. I was amused by the high-def pack, which turned everything brown, and the DLC NPC, which just generated a new character called "DLC MAN" who complained that he couldn't have a central role to the plot since he was an optional extra.

Again, the writing was clever and funny.

I'm guessing this wasn't the same shepherd that I killed at the end of the first game. Or maybe it was, and I'm the baddie ...

The village elder was senile.

This was another of my favourite DLC packs. Many games are being patched in this way now, which is incredibly annoying for those of us with monthly bandwidth caps ...

I was surprised there wasn't a DLC pack to restore the colour here.

This one annoyed me a bit. It made the text more annoying to read and I couldn't find a way of turning it off.

There's a whole area which is missing until you unlock it via DLC.

My heart fell at this point. Yes, collecting flags is funny since it shows the pointlessness of the original Assassin's Creed achievements, but do I really have to fetch so many?

Yes, it turns out, but they're all in one box.

Battling against the wind and snow reminded me of the last part of Journey.

Again, annoyingly this couldn't be turned off once applied.

And it turns out the shopkeeper is the overall baddie ...

... who sells you the swords to kill him with.

To buy the swords, you have to collect coins that he throws out, while avoiding other rubbish. I found that by standing on the far right, nothing could hurt me and I could just pop out to pick up coins when he stopped throwing.

RLLMUK’s top 100: 40 – 31

Posted on 22/10/2013 Written by Xexyz

40	Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (Xbox)
39	Grim Fandango (PC)
38	Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe (Amiga/PC/Archimedes)
37	The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (PC/Xbox 360)
36	Civilization II (PC)
35	Elite (BBC/CPC/Commodore 64/Spectrum/Atari ST/Amiga)
34	Phantasy Star Online (including v2) (Dreamcast)
33	Grand Theft Auto 3 (PS2)
32	Perfect Dark (N64)
31	Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan (DS)

Comments on the games I've played:

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (Xbox)

I never got very far in this. It was just a bit boring, and took ages for the game's story to kick in. By the time I found out what was going to happen, I could tell that I'd never get anywhere near the end of the game without devoting weeks to it, and I had many more enjoyable things to do instead.

Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe (Amiga)

Another game where I never quite got what everyone raved about. It all seemed a bit clunky, with the ball lacking momentum and the playing area being just the wrong size for the number of goals. I used to play this at friends' houses, on the Amiga and on the Mega Drive, and despite winning a large proportion of the time, I was never convinced I was entirely in control. The team management bits seemed pretty pointless as well.

Elite (BBC, CPC), Elite: The New Kind (PC)
I have played this game for hundreds of hours. It's aged pretty badly, really, in that modern games do everything it does but better, but they add other games over the top. Maybe that's why I still like Elite - it's pure, clean, and easy to play. I've learnt profitable trade routes, I've earnt the title of Elite, I've jumped into witchspace and survived.

Phantasy Star Online (including v2) (Dreamcast, Gamecube, Xbox)

One of the best gaming experiences of my life - although not necessarily the best game ever. This was the first time I played anything online with friends, and I spent many hours building up my character by running through the forests, caves, mines and ruins. I can still remember the first time I battled Dark Falz with online assistance, drawing attention away from others, healing, whittling down his health. The final blow leading to a poignant animation of a red ring, showing the fate of the hunter who had left us messages through the world. I've killed Dark Falz many times since.

Grand Theft Auto 3 (PS2, Xbox)

I completed this, which is saying something given the difficulty of the final mission - chasing a helicopter to a dam, not getting killed while running to the control room, shooting someone who seemed to be wearing a full kevlar bodysuit. Is this the best of the 3D iterations? Vice City had less interesting missions but possibly a better world; GTA IV got boring very quickly due to hassles from characters calling your mobiles; the PSP games were great but a bit limited in terms of out-of-mission havoc. I've not played San Andreas of the latest instalment yet, but will one day. GTA3 remains great fun to mess around in, and I can still recognise landmarks in the city when I watch videos today.

Perfect Dark (N64)

I played very little of this, as I came to it late and the FPS genre had evolved considerably. It's dated far more than Goldeneye.

Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan (DS)

Great fun, but I prefer Elite Beat Agents.

Game memories: F

Posted on 22/10/2013 Written by Xexyz

Feel the Magic XX-XY (DS)

Project Rub in the UK, but I got this with my imported US DS ahead of the European launch. In many ways it was an ideal game to launch the DS with, showing many varied ideas on how the touchscreen could be used. It didn't hang together that well, but I remember the black, white and orange colour scheme vividly.

F1 '97 (PS)

Murray Walker shouting "He's on the green stuff" over and over again; tracks being messes of pixels a little way down the road. A great game.

F1 2010 (Xbox 360)

Far too many options and menus to wade through. Completing a single race in the career mode took ages, since you had to go through practice sessions, qualifying and the race itself. Ideal for people who love F1, but for me it was just a bit painful.

F1 2011 (3DS)

As with F1 2010 above, but with a third of the framerate.

F355 Challenge Passione Rossa (Dreamcast)

At the time this felt like a massive technical achievement and tales of the arcade machine using three monitors underlined the game's credentials. I played it for about fifteen minutes before being totally overwhelmed by the options and realistic gameplay - in other words, I kept spinning off the track, couldn't work out how to switch to a behind-car view, and had better things to play instead.

Field Commander (PSP)
Like Advance Wars but with little charm, little challenge, and a rubbish online mode.

Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles (Gamecube)
I've never completed a proper Final Fantasy game; I've never even passed the first hour of one. This, however, was played loads at virtually every games night we held. Kieron had a bucket on his head, I was a Selkie. John was accomplished at ranged combat, we all could heal each other but often didn't.

Fire Emblem (GBA)
I never completed this. I remember it getting very stressful due to the fact that if a character died in a mission, they remained dead. I restarted missions again and again to protect my favourite characters, and as a result it grew stale and too difficult.

Floigan Brothers: Episode One (Dreamcast)
It's a shame there was no episode two - this was an amusing game which was unlike anything else, as with a lot of Sega's Dreamcast output. It was far too short and there was a bit too much collection required as far as I recall. I got this in Singapore and worked out pretty quickly that it was a pirate version, but bought the proper version on my return from HMV for a fiver.

Ford Racing 3 (Xbox)

I was convinced to buy this by people on RLLMUK praising the second game, the fact it was online (when there were few other online games around, and it was £10 brand new. I think I played it online three times and offline twice, before being tempted away by other games that were just more fun to play.

F-Zero (SNES, Wii, Wii U)

F-Zero GX (Gamecube)

F-Zero X (N64)

F-Zero: Maximum Velocity (GBA, 3DS)
GX is the best. The Mode 7 games are a bit pants now, but at the time they seemed great, particularly on the GBA where the handling was much more refined. Replaying them now, they are just too floaty and the career mode is a bit lightweight with daft difficulty spikes.

Future Tactics: the Uprising (Gamecube)

I bought this in the US and as a result, the hassle needed to load the game meant that I played it little. A shame, as when I did I remember it being a clever game melding a strategy turn-based game with something that felt more action-based. I'm now able to play US games on my modded Wii; I may try this again when I find it.

Fighting Vipers (Saturn, Xbox 360)

I continue to be hopeless at fighting games that are more complicated that Street Fighter II, but Fighting Vipers has a pleasing lack of combo, super and extra EX WTF meters. The fighting feels solid and the idea of being able to knock off armour works well. I get the feeling that if I played this a bit more I could get quite good at it. That's unlikely to happen.