Construed

I’ve had a funny few weeks of late.  Hardly touching a gamepad in that time – being uninspired as I have to play any of the titles in my videogames library. Even looking through a list of future releases has just left me feeling rather tired. Without doubt this is a period of general burnout that I hadn’t expected to affect me but it has. There’s really no point in fighting it – past experience has taught me that it’s best just to roll with it & see it out.

One demo that I did download, on this very day, was the new Wolverine title based on the recent X-Men Origins movie release. It’s a short demo, allowing just enough time to pick up the combat combos & techniques with a small slice of the storyline exposed. I don’t expect to play the full game at release but liking the Wolverine character as I do, there’s a strong chance of me picking it up at a later date.

I did have a more expectant feeling for the June release of Prototype than I did for the Wolverine title. Both have some similarities in their lead characters abilities & am sure the development team at Radical Entertainment looked over the history of Wolverine, at some point in the creation process.

DM∞

Say hello to ma little friend!*

In Godfather II the city of New York does feel just that – little! It leads me to the conclusion that it has been placed this way as a means to introduce the player to action. An tutorial of sorts but I would have preferred New York not to have had this as a it’s primary focus. A better deal, possibly, would have been to limit access to all of New York at the start of the campaign – sending you back there later in the game to finish what you had started.

Although I am enjoying Godfather II with the coming together of RTS & live action gameplay – I feel that with a little more time spent working out how to blend the two together, as there are some rough edges, the outcome would have been a much stronger hybrid.

Florida is up next to control & with that, I’ll be discussing the Don’s View in more depth over the coming game diary posts.

DM∞

*yes I know the reference is not a Godfather quote!

Some interesting comments about AI in videogames, surfaced in the last Game diary post. These mainly concerned bot play & how it can be a used to aid a player in learning a game level, that has been designed with multiplayer action in mind.

In my recent gameplay in Resident Evil 5, I have found Sheva a fairly reliable AI partner. She can reward you with ammo that she has collected or praise your shooting ability, after a head-shot. Where her weakness is exposed, is in the navigation of each of the game levels. This isn’t problematic as it sounds, as the majority of gameplay has been of a linear experience so far – the exception of Chapter 3-1 which lets you explore a marshland in more free-form style.

Shiva’s default ability in combat can be altered via an option in the game menu. If she is set to follow your attacks, the AI is OK but nothing spectacular. I have yet to try the other option which, I hope, will bring to the game a more aggressive Shiva. I’d have also liked to been able to do the assisted jumps in the combination that I saw fit, rather than Shiva always being the one to get the leg-up, in these almost scripted events.

I will have hoped to have played through some of the early chapters in on-line co-op mode & report my feelings in time for the next Game diary post.

DM∞

While playing the recent Prince of Persia, I had hoped that something special would come from the pairing the Prince with Princess Elika. Alas nothing cut through the poor choice in voice actor for the Prince or the wasted storyline opportunities with Elika & so my enthusiasm for the game waned fairly quickly.

Resident Evil 5 could, on the other hand, be the game that explores the two character centric to a fuller degree. Putting aside Sheva’s voice which is slightly off, the co-op element plays a big part in Resident Evil 5 – be it AI or 2 player.

I’ll be looking to re-run the first chapter very soon, in 2 player online co-op & will give a better briefing of how the game felt to play, then. Tom Chick has already made a telling post, in a recent Resident Evil 5 game diary at Fidgit.

I haven’t played a Resident Evil game since #2 which was on the PlayStation 2 platform, back in 1998, over 10 years ago! The stop to shoot game mechanic is still in place & I for one am happy it is, as the game has to be paced with more thought than the usual run & gun popular variant of videogaming, we continuously see released.

DM∞

Nicely noted by a follower on Twitter, I am indeed playing through some older videogame releases on the 360.

Call of Duty 4 has a fairly short single player campaign, that has some very nice touches of storytelling, but I am struggling to find that unique title which breaks the kill or be killed mould.

I have been pleasently surprised on how much I have enjoyed GTA IV. Not sure if Niko will fall into the category of characters that I’d go back to a videogame for but that is something to possibly discuss in a different post.

Talking characters that you return to, I now have Street fighter IV which brings back some very old gaming memories. This new model to the franchise hasn’t stirred things up too much but I’m still new to the experience & so will hold fire on my thoughts, until I get some more play time under my belt.

Due this week coming, I have some more horror-feasting in Resident Evil 5 – am hoping that this title doesn’t just deliver standard stop & shoot fare. Plus, I’ll be looking at FIFA 09’s first DLC – Ultimate Team which looks to be a nice way to keep all us FIFA fans busy until FIFA 10, later in the year.

DM∞