Author: Adam

Quiting Games

How one badly-placed checkpoint made Ars Technica wonder… what makes us walk away from games?  This is a fascinating area of debate within gaming.  Their superb article ‘Why we quit: the moments that push us away from gaming’ is well-worth a read, and merits further discussion.  I can totally relate.  Bad checkpoint placement for example, can ruin a game’s flow.  How do you feel on this?

Hands-on with Zuma for the PlayStation Network

Zuma is another one of Pop Cap Games’ classics that has made its way on to the PlayStation Store.  In  contrast with Bejeweled 2, I haven’t had previous gaming experience with this strange new animal.  So much so in fact, I discover that this game isn’t new at all, its a few years old, which figures.

The gameplay however, is what I’d like to describe as ‘hardcore classic’.  It’s one of those games where the controls and the gameplay are just so ‘spot on’ that all that’s stopping your progression or high scores is your gaming ability.  This allows for some serious hardcore gaming sessions, the likes of which I don’t think I’ll be able to muster!  Why?  Read on…

The concept of Zuma (like many classic games) is simple.  There are different colured balls following a winding track that eventually leads to a skull where upon arrival at the skull: it’s game over.  Standing between you and almost certain doom is a friendly little frog (which I guess is either Aztec or Mayan in origin, hence the name ‘Zuma’ but that’s not particularly important when considering the merits of the game) which you can spin in any direction, firing out the same coloured balls from it’s mouth.  Match 3 or more of the same coloured balls in a row, and the snaking coloured balls that you matched will disappear whilst the remaining balls making their way to the skull will be pulled backwards to close the gap, giving you precious extra time.

Continue reading Hands-on with Zuma for the PlayStation Network

Committing Grand Theft Auto

I would like to announce with much fanfare that I have finally fired up my copy of Grand Theft Auto IV and I’m aiming to play right through it.  For me, that is quite an achievement.  The game has just been sitting there, gathering dust for over a year at my current estimate.  Partly I think it’s been due to lack of free time, and otherwise it’s been total apathy towards the game.

Apathy, you say?  Well, yes.  Back on the PS2 the Grand Theft Auto series was genuinely ground breaking and it offered something new.  On the next generation systems, despite great visuals, more detailed environments and gameplay enhancements, I’ve felt it’s been a case of peddling out more of the same.  Besides, during the launch of GTA IV in 2008, I got hooked on Race Driver: GRID anyway, which is a totally awesome racing game.  One in fact, that I need to revisit as all my gamesaves got wiped in the ‘Great PS3 Christmas Tragedy of 2008’ that I’ll continue to mention for a good while yet as it still hurts.

Back to discussing a bit of GTA IV- from what I’ve played so far, it mostly feels exactly the same as previous instalments.  The only thing that got my attention was the explosion of a car bomb, which looked so shocking and real.  A definite improvement from past instalments in the series.  Yet I’ve felt the apathy creep in again.  Although you play as an Eastern European with a conscience, you still end up going on a rampage like in previous games in the series, so I’m skipping through the cut scenes as I just don’t care.  A bonus in doing this is I figure I can go for the ‘Liberty City Minute’ Trophy where I’ve got to complete the main story in less than 30 hours.  Sorted.

Pausing to reflect for a moment: If there has been one downside to playing GTA IV and Prince of Persia, then it has been leaving Lara Croft on her own in some cave somewhere, waiting for me to guide her on her way…

Sky Broadband sorry for PSN problems

Sky Broadband sorry for PSN problems– I suppose that explains all the problems that I’ve been having with the PSN.  Sky Broadband is my ISP, so hopefully this problem has now been solved, yet I seem to have always had connectivity issues with the PSN.  I’ll see how all of this pans out first before reporting back.

Some thoughts on Prince of Persia

I have waited till I completed the game in full before offering up some final thoughts on Prince of Persia, and I’m glad I did, as I can now visualise the game as a whole and in the right perspective.  I think the easiest way to go about it, is to direct you to GameSpot’s review and take it from there.

Elika
Elika

I’ll agree with GameSpot in that Prince of Persia looks and sounds fantastic.  In certain places, it really is spectacular- drawing you in to the universe depicted in the game.  Yet my opinion differs when turning my attention to the level design.  The mechanics of the level design are technically sound in that the environments are visually interesting and quite exhilarating to navigate through.  Yet as I was progressing through Prince of Persia I had a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that yes, this was just a game, and it felt like one too.  In many respects, it’s all down to the level design for me.

Continue reading Some thoughts on Prince of Persia

Good things come in twos

There’s been a couple of games that I’ve been really excited about for a long time now that are currently on the horizon, and will be with us later this year: Assassin’s Creed 2 and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.  With E3, we’ve all been deluged with plenty of information about both games.  Here’s a round-up of what I’ve been reading and found to be most interesting:

Assassin’s Creed 2

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves