Games Computer Games : Spending time with Forza 4 and Gears of War 3...

Well my wife was poorly last night, so were the kids so I got to sit down for a good game last night! (Evil aren't I?)

Well, it gave them all a chance to get some peace and quiet and if anyone needed anything I was only on single player so paused and ran up.

The thing is despite my criticism of Forza 4, having started it to try and get a clean KIA C'eed Top Gear Test Track lap - and managing a fairly poor 1:46 something... I started finding it hard to put down... I played some challenges to unlock the Autovista cars then did some world tour... And the inevitable happened.

It happens with every Forza like game I ever played - I end up making a bloody stupid car. In Forza 3 it was my Fiat 500 Abarth and Mazda MX5 that took the biscuit. The 500 had a huge Punto Engine, Rear Wheel Drive and was 500 rated - so classed the same as Ferrari F360's and similar... The MX5 had an RX8 Renesis Engine and every upgrade going - it was rated R3 class at 900 or something... The trouble is you turn traction control off and it was impossible to drive in a straight line...

For Forza 4 I'm already started on an Abarth 500 Essesse. It's currently nearly 200 HP, RWD, with Race Weight reduction and a few other choice mods. It's competitive at the moment - but it's only a class D 350 Rated. It gets harder and harder to keep the car upgraded and competitive as you take it from it's design spec.

One thing that does worry me - I really like the Abarth 500 Essesse, when I need to buy a car in real life I might get one... But after driving 600 HP full race spec, RWD converted ones in Forza 4 is the 160HP FWD stock car still going to be exciting ?

Eventually I tore myself away for a little Gears 3... Dom, Dom... I won't say any more - I don't want to spoil it. Gears 3 is great, really loving the story, the mechanics and the new weapons and enemies. It's a shame the series is ending - so far it's got better and better with each installment. It's definately a game I shall miss... And I don't know if the prequel series covering the pendulum wars will do it for me...

Games Computer Games : The Christmas Reportage

Well, unfortunately I still don't get to game much...

The kids have been pretty ill most of Christmas and I've had a few days of sickness too. I did get a couple of games though - so I've been taking a break from Left 4 Dead 2 to try out something a little fresher.

First up is Gears of War 3, probably something everyone else has already played and finished - but that is not possible for dual children spawning 35 year old gaming veterans, certainly not this one :(

So far I'm as far through the campaign as the [*SPOILER WARNING*]



[Human Lambent appearing, which is something I predicted would happen.]




[*END SPOILER*]

I am enjoying the story, it's a really polished game and the story is well written. The new weapons are great and add some real variety.

I'll be back to comment more once I've played more of it.

Second up is Forza 4, which I sort of have mixed feelings about. On the one hand it's great, seems a really polished game, plays well, handles well, looks beautiful - but at the same time it's hard to pinpoint what it offers over Forza 3, the obvious thing is the Top Gear content is the obvious - but is it worth buying a new game to hear Televisions most contraversial irritator 'Clarkson' carrying on about cars? If you want to do that you can always turn on Dave!

Of course there is the Top Gear Test Track, which is sort of fun - you can even do it in the reasonably priced car (I got an uncertified 1:39 something) But there isn't really a game mode I can see whereby you set a lap in the same way as the TV show which is dissapointing. You can compete for a flying lap time which is all very nice, but it would have been nicer to be able to compete in a specific standing lap race.

I've yet to get deep into the new career mode, but I will... I still love playing Forza, it's still a great game, but I question how important it is to play Forza 4 over Forza 3? I might even venture that unless you are huge fan of the worlds most irritating motoring journalist 'Clarkson' you might be wasting your money.

I've report back if my opinion on this changes.

A Continued disillusionment with games...

I was really, really excited about Batman: Arkham City. I loved the Arkham Asylum game and used to consider it not only the best Batman game of all time but possibly the best super hero game too.

Since having my soul destroyed by playing Duke Nukem Forever, I've found it increasingly difficult to garner any enthusiasm for games. Admittedly part of this might be that I just don't have the personal time required to get into games in the way that I used to - spending 36 hours over a weekend, surviving on crisps, chocolate bars, pop and beer is not an option now I have a wife, and a family - yet I do long for days like that again, there's something magical about getting completely absorbed in a game so that your eyes are bleeding, your brain is melting and you feel like you are really, really there...

The things I liked about Batman was the polished feel of the game, the creativity you could express in defeating the enemies - there was always so many ways you could choose to tackle a situation. I liked the huge cast of super villains, the dark setting of Arkham Asylum and the wierd dream sequences...

I suppose part of me would love to get into Arkham City, but maybe part of me wants to hate it because I know I won't have the time to invest to get the most out of it.





Another game I was really excited about - and might have even pre-ordered was Gears of War 3. Gears of War 1 & 2 were really my introduction to the XBOX 360, and my introduction to the concept of 'cover shooters' I loved the stories, the settings, the combat - although it took me a while to get my head around 'how to succeed' I still think Gears is a hard game, at least on above normal difficulty setting.

Yet here we are, it's on the shelf and I don't bother picking it up - why? Because I won't get time to play it, it'll just mean more and more frustration as I want to put more hours into it which I simply don't have. I'll probably pick it up used around christmas time and hop I can snatch a few hours here and there... Instead I'm putting all my gaming time into S-ranking Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2, sad porbably but I can't motivate myself into playing anything else - apart from a bit of Rome: Total War when the mood takes me...

Sometimes I envy the guys over at the video games tv channel afterall - I have to divide my time work / jobs at home / Open University / Family / Wife / Kids / Games. A huge portion of that time - 8 hours a day is dedicated to work! If I could incorporate some games playing into that time, it would be easier to fit everything in - but it's hard to get paid to play games. Not many jobs pay you to effectively have fun.

I suppose the unfortunate reality is that sometimes you probably have to play games you don't want to play and you then have to spend time writing script about games you didn't like - that sound remotely positive, because otherwise the publishers won't send you more games and the games are your content. That could be soul destroying at times too.

I mean if there was a programme based on my gaming habits over the last month it would be pretty damn boring - just me carrying on about Left 4 Dead 2 and not much else... No - in some respects I think Gaming is a nice thing to keep as a hobby, it's just a pity I can't spend more time on it.