Fiv... Sh*t TEN Fun Games!

After having a discussion with a housemate about how games seem to have veered away from actually being fun and turned into a graphics contest and how close to reality they can get. I've decided to make a list of recent (ish) games which I think are fun and enjoyable to play! It was initially five but then after FURTHER discussions with my other housemate (@larky1990), it's the biiig TEN! 

10. Lego Star Wars.

What better than Star Wars? Oh that's right.. Playing them as Lego. I had so much fun revisiting all the major set pieces as a Lego character and discovering new areas with each one ( buuuuuy it. Gooble gobble).

9. Fez. 

A 2D man in a 3D world. Yes it was challenging but still a whole lotta fun at the same time. It was unique with such a large depth and scale. And when you first turn the world and see a whole new world (started singing Aladdin there), and a different perspective opens before you, it was simply breathtaking. Come on Phil Fish. Make no. 2 without blowing yourself up. 

8. Skate.

OPM - heaven is a half pipe. Yes! OPM. Skate made that mechanic that appeared in Tony Hawks next gen ( project 8) and turned it into a spectacular game. I spent hours on both 1 and 2 perfecting lines with my buddy. Yeah... I have friends (statement may not actually be true). 

7. Saints Row 3.

GTA on roids and snorting cocaine whilst pooping out of a plane. I know. It's the perfect analogy for how insane this game was. They took all the crazy ideas that people had thought up and put them in one giant game. Nothing beats sucking up pedestrians in a cannon and launching them to the moon. 

6. Burnout: Paradise.

Launching a car over a jump at 160 mph on a bridge would sound dangerous. But not in Burnout Paradise. Fuck yeah! This game ruled. One of the few driving games with co-op and done well. It was always fun cruising round with Friends... and ramming them into a wall. Lol. Rofl. 

5. Broforce. 

This game. I fucking love it! I've already written about this in a previous blog saying how much fun it is to tackle a horde of enemies with your buddies and destroy the world in the process. And it's still not even finished! Which means there's more BRO's to be released and more levels! Win. Win. Win. 

4. Crackdown.

One of the first games I got with my Xbox 360. Crackdown lets you pick up cars and hurtle them towards unsuspecting enemies. You could jump up skyscrapers in seconds, kill the enemy atop then raise him above your head to show your kill. Theeeeen throw him off and watch his body bounce! (Mini chortle). Even collecting the orbs seemed satisfying to me and when they released the harpoon gun, I loved killing my mate then pinning him to walls. I know...I'm a bastard. 

3. Portal 1 and 2.

Portal always gets high praise and why shouldn't it. It's funny, challenging, addictive and different. Walking into a test chamber you would stare at the obstacle before you and assess how to take it on. Then in Two you could play co-op (I LOVE CO-OP). And it was always fun to make the infinity loop and fall forever! 

2. Super Mario 3D World.

I love my WiiU. Even more so with each purchase. And this purchase was no exception. Join Mario and the gang in an adventure through 8+ worlds. Each level is fun and vibrant and immerses the player in each world. The fact you can dress as a cat is just a happy positive. The music is nothing to be ignored either. It brings that happy feeling and is incredibly memorable. But my favourite part was Bowser's World. Travelling up the pipe and seeing this colourful land stand before you is something definitely worth seeing. 

1. Rayman: Legends.

Granted, you may not rate this as your number one BUT holy shit it should at least be in the top three. I'd never played a Rayman and it was my Brother who showed me this and I'm glad he did. It plays as a platformer and is definitely one of the best. The backgrounds to each stage are beauties to look at. Tight controls. The levels themselves challenging and with Ubisoft constantly releasing daily challenges, it keeps the game fresh. The best. THE BEST part though? At the end of each world is a music level where you have to run and jump in time to the music through various obstacles and enemies. It. Is. Awesome!!!! I've showed everyone who has passed by my house and each person has commented on how much fun the game is. If this game was a barrel.. It would be full of laughs (Idiom of the day). 

Cheers for reading. More soon...keep a look out for a YouTube channel! 

O.E.G

@TheOEGamer. 

Oh Luigi!

Since I'm still loving my GameCube at the moment, I have thought of a new game to ramble on about.

Luigi's Mansion! Let me level with you here reader. I actually played this for the first time last week when I acquired said GameCube. I had only seen this briefly on adverts so everything I say about this is fresh and not from memory, unlike the former twelve posts. The game follows (if you hadn't realised) Luigi for a change instead of Mario. It turns out this lucky chap has won a mansion in the arse-end of nowhere! Scam you say? Probably. But an excited Luigi can't tell the difference and goes to rub it in his brother's small face, and asks him at the same time to come celebrate...Oh Luigi...that's low. Anyways, Luigi arrives at the mansion only to find its haunted by ghosts! And they've taken Mario! Enter the player to capture ghosts and solve the mystery of where the hell Mario actually is.

So the first thing I noticed and probably fell in love with is the music. Nintendo I don't know how you do it but keep pumping these tunes out! O.K. So Luigi's Mansion's main theme isn't exactly raising the roof but it manages to be quirky and creepy. This is done by just having Luigi - and only Luigi - whistle the tune when there's nothing going on or you are exploring the mansion.
Until you meet a spoooky ghost and the bass kicks in followed by the violins. This gives the sense that the player truly is alone in this gigantic house. Even the noise of the creaking floorboards, Luigi's footsteps and the occasional lightning strike manage to keep the game dark...for a Nintendo/ Mario game. Oh and another little cool thing is if you press A Luigi will call out for his brother. I think its cool!

 Who ya gunna call????

Next is the presentation. Let me tell you. It looks great. All the different coloured ghosts are neatly drawn. The backgrounds to each room are well filled. Obviously Luigi looks amazing. Seriously; Nintendo know how to make a game stand out. The best part of the presentation though seems to be the shadows. When you go into one of the rooms with the mini-bosses and see its shadow slowly floating on the wall, its creepy. BUT its the good kind of creepy where you can appreciate what the developers have done. The worst (not worst as in bad mind you!) is the baby though. With the combination of the quiet jingle of a creche, a calm wind blowing against the drapes AND a floating baby shadow...Yeah, freaked me out.

Trick Doors are uuuuuurvvvywhere!

 

Also for an old school game its has some good mechanics for gameplay. To my knowledge, this is one of the very few games (of 2002) that uses a vacuum/ hoover, where you can suck up sheets or balls. They integrate well into the game making the player use it at certain points to complete an objective. Or to use it to uncover a BOO! Now combine this awesome hoover sucking/blowing (phrasing) ability with a torch system...baby you got yourself a game! The player uses the torch to shine onto a ghost which will stun them, then uses the vacuum to suck the blighters up! Sounds simple yes. But trying running round a room sucking up ghosts when more appear...yeah. Like herding cats...with a hoover. When a room is cleared, the lights come on and give the player the sense of security, because lets be honest, when you were a kid and you couldn't sleep you either; a) had a night light or b) but the landing light on...just me?

Lastly there's a few things a missed which I think deserve some mention:
1. The trick doors are a clever way to make sure the player is using the map to navigate. Smart Nintendo.
2. The Way Luigi moves in the game is priceless. He walks on his tiptoes, he's constantly bricking it! And when you find a key/object his little spin is awesome (accompanied by some awesome music once again).
3. Using the Gameboy "Horror" as a Boo finder, coin counter, map and a plethora of others, is an extremely nice touch. 


Now I haven't played this all the way through but its definitely deserves a mention. This is one of the few games I've picked up and instantly enjoyed. From the music, to the gameplay and even the quirky comments made throughout. Nintendo surely know how to make an interesting yet addictive game. Its even fun to watch someone play this game as I find out when my buddy just sat and watched me play the first hour or so without moving. Or maybe he was watching me and planning to kill me??!!?


O.E.G.
@theOEGamer


P.S.
Comments would be appreciated and I'll get back to you all...you might even get a kiss.

My Top Five Games I Hate...With Additional Swearing

So I know I call myself optimistic and I suppose I am. But sometimes I lose my shit with games...like completely. Just to make you aware I am gunna be swearing my tits off here solely for the fact I'll wind myself up about each game. This was also a ball ache and took me ages because I was trying to rack my brain so I had to search EVERY game on the PS2 (yes every title AND I couldn't even find one!). Also you'll have to bear with me on some of them, I will explain! So... here we go. Hold on tight. (Warning: Spoilers).


5. James Bond 007: Nightfire - GameCube/ PS2/ Xbox.

This is only being placed at no. five because it came with the GameCube I acquired and I don't like trying to rate something without seeing/playing it all the way through...however. This game sucks. I could only withstand 15 minutes- TOPS - before I turned it off in a rage. The graphics are fucking awful! I've seen better Playstation games! And for that matter a SNES games! The cars look like literal squares. And the sounds....the FUCK!!!!! I'm done.

To sum up. It is awful.








4. Deus Ex. Human Revolution - Xbox360/ PC/ PS3.

Right. So Deus Ex. Its an awesome game. I loved upgrading my character into a stealthy dealer of death, and attempting to just ruin everyone's day by playing as a complete bastard. Whats that? You've been promoted to "crummy desk Sergeant?" GIVE A FUCK! So like I said its awesome. What isn't awesome and actually changed my entire perspective on the game was the ending. Eidos you cheap bastards. Instead of some brilliant cut scene where I thought I'd see Jensen killing himself or choosing whatever, I'm "treated" with black and white footage of Earth???? No no no. I play games to get away from this shit, not to be dropped right back in it during the fucking game!!!!!!
Ruined.







3. Rise of the Robots - SNES.

If you haven't seen any footage of this, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYUeO_yk9To
Continue sum this up perfectly, "nothing about this game was entertaining or fun at all". Yup. I remember my dad getting me and brother this. The title screen had me super excited! We then had a fight and my smiling face went straight to a "da fuq is this??" The game uses pre-rendered C.G.I sprites rather than pixel art or digitized sprites. Essentially it just looks buals (balls!). There is limited moves and even then it feels super slow. My problem with this game is....why was it made?








2. Rage - Xbox360/ PC/ PS3.

 This follows the same trend as Deus Ex but it wound me up even more, if its even possible (hence why its no. 2). Same applies, this game is a sexy looking game and they even got some decent folk to do some of the voices (like John Goodman!) and considering it was sold as a similar game to Fallout and boasted about Mad Max style world, which it did. But in my eyes it fell short. Super short. Yes, there was opens worlds but they seemed linear. How do you manage to make something openly linear??? HOW? The game was put onto two discs which I expected to make the game huge, and it did. But wait, the player wants to go back and explore the first area? Na fuck that, limited freedom is where its at! Like I said, the game is amazing but like @mattaconda (https://twitter.com/Mattaconda) said,"there's only so much lipstick you can put on a pig."
When I finished it I just stared at the credits and genuinely thought,"well that was a fucking waste, think I'll go outside." And it didn't even take that long and I was attempting to make it last...Fuck you Rage. I'll show you some RAGE!!!!!





1. Red Faction: Armageddon - Xbox360/ PC/ PS3.

Here it is. Possibly my most hated game. THIS FUCKING GAME! I don't think I've ever been so disappointed at a game. This is probably because I was, and maybe still am, a huge fan of the first two on the PS2 and Guerrilla on the 360. The first two for the ability to smash the environment and getting the rail gun to shoot through walls and kill enemies. Guerrilla because they took the destroying environments to the next level. They gave you all of Mars to go crazy with. Here's a giant hammer. See that building? You can flatten it! One of my favourite things was just wielding this super hammer and just fucking shit up. Then they released this one in 2011. And ruined everything!!!! Why the fuck would you decide to put the player back in the ground on a linear path after giving them the freedom of the world?! I know the first two where underground but they worked because they probably didn't have the capacity on the PS2 to attempt what they did with Guerrilla. But seriously. Even at the start they give the player a little teaser. "Oh remember all that cool shit like blowing up buildings and smashing pipelines with hammers? Yeah none of that anymore." If I had to compare this to anything it would be a stripper. They both had me super excited when they started but at the end I'm left disappointed. And all alone...again.

Addendum: If you haven't notice I do like open games, so when a games is labelled as such, I will probably try it out. But when it undersells like the above, I tend to lose it.

Now I know the majority of the games on the list are from the "next-gen" era, but it's because I couldn't find many from the retro era that I hated. Maybe because there wasn't as much choice and the developers had to make sure the game was perfect so they could make a profit. Or maybe because back when I was a young'n, I thought everything was amazing and colourful (except Rise of the Robots). And now I'm older and wiser and can see more faults and I'm more skeptical. Or its that the game developers don't seem to spend as much time on certain games. Whatever it is these games above...pissed me off massively. 

If you have any different or agree with me let me know!

Cheers,

 

O.E.G.

@theOEGamer.

Return of the King

I know what you're thinking and this ain't a LOTR review. For those of you who follow me on twitter, you'll be aware I've recently got a GameCube! Literally, all my new consoles - 360, 3DS and my PC - have all be shoved to one side to make way for this hero. The rest of this month and probably next will contain reviews from the GameCube and what's going to start us off?

Super Smash Bros. Melee! Now I know that pretty much everyone in existence has played this game. But I've never owned a GameCube so this is all new to me and obviously I've played it but I've never had one to call mine. The game is a beat em up and a sequel to super smash bros. on the N64. 

Mostly a multiplayer game but it does have an arcade mode and adventure mode. It has a wide variety of playable character from throughout the nintendo world. This ranges from Donkey Kong, Link, Pikachu, and Captain Falcon to just name a few. 

Each character has their own special moves and attacks. This can make the game extremely tactical if you know how to use the character up close and at range. The aim is too damage the opponent enough to send him flying off the screen and to his speedy demise. The games can be done either on a timed basis or how many lives you have. But I'm sure EVERYONE knew that. Hahaha! 

So first thing. The music and sounds. Since this game uses characters from all over the nintendo world, you hear a variety of music, each fitting to it's stage. All seem as if they have a fully orchestrated band playing on each arena. My personal favourites are Hyrule (for the intro music being played on one or two instrument, slowly building into a masterpiece) and the Pokemon stadium (cause it's Pokemon). There is also a crowd that cheers for their favourite combatant, and gasps at close calls and near falls (unintentional rhyme!). It makes you feel as if you are on the main stage of this spectator sport. Even the small ping as someone is flung into space makes the entire game come together. I also think I could listen to the character select music for a prolonged period and not get bored. Even though this game is essentially about killing and beating up people, Nintendo still manage to make you feel happy!!

Oh Luigi...What are you DOING?!?!

Next up is the graphics. 2002 this beaut came out and it still looks good. All the models of characters look well finished, even the ones intended to look 8-bit. I personally enjoy when you collect another trophy and you can view them all in your collection, a proud moment for any gamer! Another personal favourite is just playing as Kirby solely so I can make him look like a cute Samus or D.K. Each stage, is vibrant and although beautiful and eye drawing, doesn't take the players attention too much. 

I am trying to think of something I don't like about this game but I honestly can't. This is one of those games that manages to do everything right from the get go. It's fun and enjoyable. The music is well orchestrated. I could go on and on but I fear no one would actually read it to the end! Nintendo have managed to have everything going on all at once but not clutter the screen. I know I haven't mentioned much on gameplay so I'm just going to list my three favourite things: 

Kirby...Just eating bros.

1. Having a Pokemon battle where you just put on Poke ball drops. 

2. Managing to slowly make my way back on the platform only to roll and smash the opponent into oblivion and win! 

3. Making Game vs Game matches. E.g. Mario and Bowser vs Link and Ganondorf. 

If anyone has any comments please leave some! Let me know your favourite Super Smash Bros. Moments! 

O.E.G 

@theOEGamer