PS3: F1 2010

Despite my initial plan to delay purchasing F1 2010 for the PS3 I ended up buying it the day after it was released.  The previews and early reviews were reasonable, and I had always wanted a decent Formula One game.

I hope F1 2010 sells well in North America, though I get the impression that stores don't expect it to.  The Best Buy location I went to told me they only received six copies.  Six copies on the day of release.  I don't know how that compares to other new releases, but to me that sounds like Best Buy doesn't expect very much demand.   A shame, really, because I think F1 2010 is pretty good and worth its price.

I've been playing career mode on the easiest setting, though when I get more races under my belt I might try turning off some of the driving aids.  In career mode you start off as a new F1 driver for one of the three new F1 teams in 2010, and can last for up to 7 seasons, which is quite a lot if you play the full race weekend (3 practice sessions, 3 qualifying sessions, race day) for all 19 races per season, and especially if you drive the full-length race.

Practice sessions are quite useful for familiarizing yourself with the track and testing different vehicle set-ups, if you want.  The number of changes you can make in regards to set-up is quite daunting, but the game does offer a couple "quick" set-ups you can use.

The short term objective is to out perform your team mate and take his position as number one driver.  Different teams have different objectives.  A team like Ferrari, for example, has much different expectations than a team like Virgin Racing.  As your career progresses, you may receive contract offers from other teams.

Anywhoo, back to the racing.  I liked it a lot.  As I said, I haven't tried turning off any driving aids, yet, but I was surprised by how much time I spent driving in practice sessions.  It's all too easy to get sucked in by "just one more lap" in order to improve your time.   Sometimes I was only able to stop because I didn't want to wear down my limited number of engines (according to official F1 regulations, you only get 8 engines per season).

The sense of speed and driving feels very good, and the graphics are amazing.  I had one qualifying session in the rain and it looked spectacular.  I have a simple two speaker set up and it still sounds great.  You can distinguish between engine sounds in front or from the car approaching behind you.

Off the track you deal with the occasional media interview.  It's neat and immerses you in the life of a F1 driver, but it's still relatively simplistic.  You have three possible answers for each question, and it's fairly obvious which choices would make your team happy, or not.

Random thoughts:

• On the track the only voice you hear is that of your race engineer, as he comments on tire/engine temperature, or what other racers are doing, when to pit.  I like it.  Having television commentary would be distracting.
• If something catastrophic (or not) happens on track, you have a limited number of chances to have a "do over", resuming play from shortly before your spin-out or what ever.  Of course, you can always restart an entire session from the beginning, but if you've already played 40+ laps in a 49-lap race that may not be your first choice.
• The sound set up options was a little odd.  In the manual it describes a "two speaker" setting, but in-game the only option I had was "headphones"-- which still sounds great coming out of my two speakers, but still... odd.
• The driving HUD could use some improvement.  It displays drivers' lap times, but equally useful, or even more so, would be how many seconds behind or ahead you are in relation to the drivers around you.  It's distracting trying to chase down the position ahead of you when you don't know how many seconds ahead he is, or how many seconds the driver immediately behind you is.
• Your race engineer isn't perfect.  In the beginning he would always say my team mate was faster so I should check his set-up.  First, the engineer would say this even when it wasn't true.  Second, as far as I can find there is no way to see what your team mate's set-up actually is.
• In the paddock you can see how fast you and other drivers are lapping through each sector of the track.  However, it only shows the times from the most current/recent lap.   This is annoying because I can never see my time for the 3rd sector because, of course, on my most recent lap I have to pit to enter the paddock, which is prior to finishing the 3rd sector.  So all I see for sector 3 is a blank space and there's no way to determine how it compares to other drivers' sector 3, or how much time I'm losing/gaining there.
• Another curious thing.  I was able to change my car set-up after final qualification and before the race -- something I'd always thought against official F1 rules.  I wonder if the non-player teams are able to do the same, because if not then that may explain why I suddenly had a competitive car on race day (I was able to change from a wet set-up during final qualification to a dry set-up for the race).
• I wonder if the game deliberately makes your team mate a poor driver to make it easier for the player.  So far my team mate has consistently been near or at the bottom of the time sheets.  Perhaps it's just the nature of the driver/team I'm currently on, or that I'm playing the easy setting.

PS3: NHL 11

I'm still debating whether NHL 11 for the PS3 is worth purchasing.  So far NHL 11 is
definitely an improvement over NHL 10, but is it enough of an improvement to merit its
price?  In my case, I'd have to say "yes", but not by much.

NHL 11 addresses and fixes some issues I've mentioned before that irritated me with NHL
10.  I've only started NHL 11, recently, so it's still wait and see for some longer term
issues, but here's what has been immediately noticeable (to me) in NHL 11, both good and
bad, compared to NHL 10.

• The garish, colour-blind and ugly upgrade equipment is gone in NHL 11.  You can still earn and use boosts to your player's attributes, but the terribly awful-looking equipment in NHL 10 is no where to be found in NHL 11, thank the hockey gods.
• It remains to be seen whether NHL 11 fixed the bug where unlocked attribute boosts spontaneously re-locked.  This next point requires some context.  One of the selling points EA Sports has been pushing strongly, to convince NHL 10 owners that it's still worth purchasing NHL 11, is a new physics engine.  I won't get in to too much detail here other than to say that it does make the game look more interesting and realistic, perhaps most noticeable with body checks.  My issue is that it feels like EA Sports has fell a little too much in love with it.  What do I mean?  Well, during stops in play the game plays short video replays of recent on ice action.  Theoretically this is a good idea, though even in NHL 10 the game often didn't show the play I actually wanted to see.  In NHL 11 it's even worse.  NHL 11 just loooves to replay body checks.  Goalie just make a save that necessitated a face-off?  Forget replaying that.  Replay a body check.
• Also on the naughty list:  home goalie make a spectacular glove save?  Instead of playing that, let's see a video of the other goalie drinking out of his water bottle.
• NHL 11 has shortened the video where you watch your player skate on to the ice prior to the start of each game.  I miss the longer version in NHL 10.  If you didn't want to watch it you could end it at any time by pressing a button so I'm not sure why they decided to short change it.
• NHL 11 has stopped providing the seating capacity and name of the arena prior to each game.  Not a biggie, but something I appreciated in NHL 10.
• I've just started a career as a goalie in Be a Pro mode and I'm already wondering what the GM AI has been smoking.  After a 4-0 record in the pre-season, with a save percentage of 0.947, 2 SO, and a 0.500 GAA, what does the GM say to McLean?  "The only reason you're not going down to the AHL is because you were drafted 9th overall".  Eh?
• It's early days in the season, but I'm already worried McLean's Wild won't even make the playoffs.  Why?  Because to date the Wild have never managed to win a game McLean did not start, and the Wild coach insists on giving Backstrom, who has yet to win a game and has much poorer stats than McLean (in NHL11, obviously), the majority of starts.

UPDATE 2:  Over-reaction over.  With calm, clear mind, I realized my issue with the inability to turn off the auto-save feature is easily solved.  Start with two game saves pre-draft.  Take saved game #1 through the draft.  If I get drafted by one of my unacceptable teams, then quit the game and load saved game #2.  Save over saved game #1.  Then take saved game #1 through the draft again.  Repeat as necessary.

This way saved game #2 is always maintained at the pre-draft point.  Once I load saved game #2, it's critical to remember to save over saved game #1 before going through the draft.  Else the auto-save will re-write over #2 and I'd no longer have a save point prior to the draft.


UPDATE: I've just discovered what I think is a major disappointment with NHL11.  Unlike NHL10, in NHL11 apparently there's no way to turn off the auto-save feature.  Majorly frustrating.  In my futile search for method to turn it off, I read in some forums that EA Sports did this to prevent cheating of some kind for online play.  I never play online so I can't confirm it, but it sounds reasonable.

Unfortunately, this inability to turn auto-save off is a source of major irritation for someone like me who doesn't play online.  I would like the ability to re-do drafts in Be a Pro mode just in case my player gets drafted by a team I out right refuse to play for.  The way NHL11 is set up now, any save game prior to the draft is automatically overwritten with post-draft data.  Ugh.  I really do not want to have to play through the Memorial Cup tournament over and over again just because I get drafted by one of the handful of NHL teams I dislike.  Which just happened, now.  Ugh. 

I'm going to put NHL11 back on the shelf until I recover from the frustration.  What a waste of my time.

PS3: NHL 10, Part II

Well, looks like there's a fairly significant bug in NHL 10 for the PS3. I'm not referring to the AI, which as always can still use some improvement, but to something I consider relatively easier to solve and as such even more disappointing.

One of the changes with NHL 10 over NHL 09, and one of NHL 10's advertised selling points, was the inclusion of unlockable player equipment upgrades (pads, sticks, helmets, etc.) that boost your player's stats in various categories. I was initially resistant to equipping these items once they were unlocked but I soon overcame my disgust with the often ugly designs and always ill-matched colours.

What's the problem, then? As soon as my Be A Pro goalie won 25 games all the previously unlocked equipment returned to their initial locked and unusable status. What's up with that? That this issue is something I would think easily caught in any reasonable quality control regime just makes it all the more disappointing.

Oh well. At least my goalie no longer has to pretend to be colour blind.

PS3: NHL 10

I wasn't sure if I should buy NHL '10 for the PS3 as all I read stated that NHL '10 wasn't a drastic improvement over NHL '09. The inclusion of a "Be a GM" mode doesn't immediately appeal to me, and including 'board play' doesn't do too much for me as I tend to play goal in "Be a Pro" mode -- thankfully retained for NHL '10.

Anywhoo, I purchased NHL '10 mentally prepared to admit it was a waste of my money; not because it's a bad game, far from it, but NHL '09 is already a great game so why bother with a minor upgrade?

To my delight my fears were misplaced. The fact that NHL '10 fixes several minor annoyances with NHL '09 makes buying NHL '10 worthwhile in itself. I say minor annoyances, but really as a person who likes to play goal they more often than not were quite irritating and detracted from NHL '09.

The most notable fixes are with the announcers. One, announcers in NHL '10 no longer describe a defenseman's own goal as the result of an amazing shot by the opposing team or as the poor play of the goalie. In NHL '09 the incongruity between the announcers' words and my emotions resulted in even more aggravation. No longer in NHL '10. Second, in NHL '09 injuries in-game were virtually ignored. I might see a player on the ice during play, but all too frequently a very brief close-up of the injured player was too brief to identify before play resumed. It's not like I know the jersey number of every single player on every single team. Of course, that's when the game even bothered to show the injury clip. I'd have no idea which player was injured or whether he was out for the duration. Thankfully, in NHL '10 this is remedied. The injury clip is enough to identify the player, and afterward the announcers even say whether the player will be returning. Nice.

Descriptions of breakaways in NHL '09 were a tad too inclusive. The announcers would describe a rebound as a breakaway. Stationary, open players and one-timers were too often called breakaways, as well. To date, none of that has cropped up in NHL '10.

In NHL '09, I'd always been disappointed that the game didn't provide some pre-game information on the opposing team, beyond the current win-loss record. No more in NHL '10. NHL '10 summarizes information like starting line ups, goalies, and stat summaries like PP, GF and GA.

Goalie animations have been added to in NHL '10, and there's much more manual control available. Overall an improvement, and it will even be more of an improvement when my use of the new controls becomes more automatic.

"Be a Pro" mode has been updated. My Be a Pro goalie had the option to play a prospect game prior to draft day to help determine draft position. Neat. Unfortunately, this leads to a minor annoyance with NHL '10. My goalie played well enough in the prospect game to be 1st pick on draft day. Huzzah! Too bad in the player stats page for my goalie under "Draft position" it still says "N/A". Eh?

Random points:

• GM and coach updates could be more timely. I went from the prospect game, the draft, contract, then directly to my 1st NHL game. What happened to the AHL? It was only after I finished the 1st game that the GM thoughtfully informed me that they were having me play in the bigs first prior to deciding whether I neeeded seasoning in the AHL. The coach didn't talk to me until after my 1st NHL game, too.
  
• In NHL '09 I thought goalie post-game evaluation was too tough. The game appeared to penalize goalie "grades" for circumstances not under the goalie's control. Poor grades adversely affect his number of starts. NHL '10 looks to have remedied this. A goalie can play well but still lose the game, and NHL '10 recognizes this. I might get fewer XP, but at least my grade average stays up and won't negatively impact my number of starts.
• I was leary of loading the game multiple times until being drafted by the Vancouver Canucks. I still have no idea if Luongo's 12-year deal made it into NHL '10. Oh well, if Luongo's still with the Canucks after my 3-yr, $0.85M entry contract expires perhaps I'll consider other teams.
• I wish in Be a Pro mode the game allowed you to see what the players' current contracts are.
• NHL '10 does a nice job with playable injury graphics. Demitra played with a fractured jaw for a couple games and you could see the additional plastic guard he wore for added protection.
  

PS3: Assassins Creed

I've always read good things about Assassins Creed for the PS3, so when I saw it at Best Buy for $30 I decided to pick it up. It's definitely worth $30, but I'm glad I didn't buy it for $50-60 when it was first released.

It's not that the game is poor; the game is quite good, actually. The story is interesting, the graphics and music are wonderful. Assassins Creed, unfortunately, has some fairly significant drawbacks in addition to all its positives.

The first issue... interesting story, I said, which is totally true. It left me wanting to learn the fate of Desmond (the character you play, and in an obvious lead-up for a sequel). Unfortunately, the game's in-story scientific premise sounded like just so much nonsense. Past memories inherited via genes? Lamarckism at work? Uh, no.

Gameplay was also another issue. Most of the time it was fine, but when moving quickly, ie. running from guards, it often became a headache. The automatic movement of the camera angle made controlling the character difficult, and gave me headaches requiring frequent breaks. The moving camera angle would obstruct my view of what I really wanted to see, and depending on where the character stood in relation to other objects difficult if not impossible to fix.

Assassins Creed is also short. Very short. Extrememly short. But ironically, its shortness turned out to be a mixed blessing; the missions quickly became quite repetitive and tedious so in part I was relieved the game was finished so quickly.

In-game beggars and crazy people? -- I really wish they wouldn't respawn, the latter more than the former. I have to admit the urge to break one of the assassins' rules regarding innocents was sometimes too much for me to resist.

I give Assassins Creed for the PS3 3.5 out of 5 stars.

PS3: Valkyria Chronicles

Valkyria Chronicles for the PS3 is both turn-based and action-oriented at the same time. The game takes place on a fictional continent, Europa, geographically similar to Europe. The protagonist is a militia soldier of a small, politically neutral country (think Switzerland) with rich resources stuck between an Empire and a Federation going at it tooth and nail for multi-continental conquest.

So… music is good; in some games the music feels repetitive and distracting -- none of that with Valkyria Chronicles. I'd buy the soundtrack.

I like the art (sort of like animated water colours), it has interesting characters and the story is great: within the backdrop of war there is love and loss, friendship and betrayal.

What happens during missions is that game play is turn-based. You complete all your moves within a turn and then the computer goes next. Where the action comes in is when you pick one of your soldiers/tanks to move -- the game switches to a third person view of the selected unit and you move and shoot in real-time action-mode.

The game lets you replay particular skirmishes for XP and money, which is great because you’ll need to level up your soldiers and fund R&D of weapons and tank parts, but I’d really like to be able to replay all of the battles.

Battle scenarios are well done, and not always straight forward. Mission goals can change unexpectedly.

In one particular battle mid-way through a powerful, legendary being showed up on the enemy’s side – the despair as critical soldiers were quickly and spectacularly put out of action, and the urgency to adapt and complete the mission before all my troops were decimated, was quite real.

Some random thoughts:

1. Now that I’ve made it through a significant part of the story, I wonder what would have happened if I had let one or two characters critical to the story perish on the battlefield at an earlier point.
2. Some scenarios are quite tough, even after the first attempt and you have some idea of what’s happening -- you can save during your turn!
3. If you can spare unit movements don’t waste them – they're tacked on next turn to the normal complement (up to a point).
4. Having said that, keep moving forward. Both sides can summon reinforcements so it makes things much easier if you can take their base camps before they arrive.
5. Taking enemy base camps is also a good way to move your troops quickly up the field. You can have a unit “retreat” at your original base camp and summon that unit up the field at the recently captured camp. This is often a quicker and less risky way of getting a lagging unit in to position.
6. I haven’t seriously used any of Welkin’s available orders except “retreat”. Maybe I just don’t know how to use them properly but it always seems more useful to use the movement points to actually move a unit rather than use them on an order.
7. When I go to the Cemetery I’d like to be able to actually, you know, visit fallen comrades rather than talk to the Old Man who teaches you orders, for a price.
8. Once you see the enemy has "elite” soldiers, and you don’t have any of your own, play skirmishes to gain xp to level up your soldiers until you do.
9. Frontal assaults have their place, but it’s better to flank when possible.
10. For the longest time I thought the grade “A” was actually an “H”. What the beeping font are they using?!

The Valkyria Chronicles earns a 5 out of 5 stars.

PS3: Fallout 3

I had some games waiting so I decided to finish Fallout 3 by focusing on the main quest – it went by quite quickly.

SPOILERS WILL FOLLOW

Fallout 3 for the PS3 is a great game (read my previous post for details). The ending takes the shine off slightly, unfortunately; the ending production matched the greatness of the rest of the game but personally it ruins any replay value.

SPOILER. Taking a step back, the ending feels very apt and flows well. Your father gives up on his life’s work to protect the baby you but 18 years later he takes up his Quixotic quest once again and perishes in the process. The son (you), alive only because of your father’s original abandonment of his life’s work, sacrifice your own life in turn to complete it.

So why does the ending destroy any replay value? I can garner no enthusiasm for playing a game, and even more so when re-playing one, where I’ll die at the end of it.

PS3: Bioshock

I received Bioshock for the PS3 as a gift and so far it looks to be another worthwhile game. I haven’t made it very far, yet, but there are already some things I’m thankful for: the easy difficulty level and auto aim.

Bioshock is very spooky. Your plane crashes into the sea and you swim onto an island leading to an underwater city, Rapture, filled with people having taken self-genetic manipulation a step, or several steps, too far.

Bioshock is another FPS so I’ll be taking this one slowly.

No star rating until I’ve played it more.

Fallout 3

Lest you think I'm fixated on NHL09, I've also been playing Fallout 3 on the Playstation 3. With Resident Evil 4 fallen by the wayside (no ammo) Fallout 3 has taken its place.

Fallout 3 is an open-ended role-playing game played in the first person. Why did I buy a first person game? A few reasons:

• I like RPGs.
• The idea of seeing a post-apocalyptic Washington, DC -- an area I've lived for almost 6 years -- is very appealing.
• The V.A.T. system. The V.A.T.S. in the game lets you pause the action and select your shots at any time. I only wish I could switch weapons in V.A.T.S.

Fallout 3 is open-ended; I've already spent hours just on side quests. Fallout 3 feels like it will be another huge game like Twilight Princess and Okami. Dungeon crawling and monster shooting is reminiscent of my AD&D high school days. At times it can get visually gory, but at night and with the customary dim lighting of abandoned buildings I hardly notice. Sometimes.

Random thoughts:

• One thing I enjoy is using my sniper rifle. It's surprisingly fun to try to discover enemies without being discovered in turn and to take out tough monsters in one shot. From the shadows I once cleared out an entire super-mart filled with raiders, using single shots with my sniper rifle. Extremely satisfying.
• I had to learn to think out of the (my) box. At one time radscorpions were my nemesis (they're still tough) until I discovered the utility of land mines. Mirelurks are annoyingly well-armored and I avoid them with a passion. But now I'm itching to take them on again, utilizing some apt load-screen advice. In your face, mirelurks! Arlington Memorial, here I come.
• So far feral ghouls thankfully are easy kills. I hope that remains true throughout because they're quick, ugly, and they freak me out.
• Radroaches gross me out, which means I have to kill them, but they're not worth the price of a bullet and I don't want to get close enough to use a baseball bat. Dilemma.
• Actually, many of the enemies in the game gross me out.
• Duck and cover, but don't cover so much that you can't shoot. Despite the V.A.T.S giving you a respectable percentage of success you often will shoot the covering object in front of you instead. Irritating.
  
• While specific ammo may temporarily run low, ammo in general is plentiful (if you have the caps, and multiple guns), a far cry from the annoying ammo-deprived Resident Evil 4.
• Once I was ambushed as I exited a Metro station. I almost died. Next time, I saw them first and threw a couple grenades their way to soften them up.
• Once I exited a Metro station and immediately was engulfed in a fire fight only to realize no one was shooting at me. I left without knowing who was fighting who, and why (though I do have an inkling, now).
• On my first visit to Megaton, no one would talk to me except to say that they were watching me and not to "try" anything. Very unfriendly and suspicious people. Then I discovered the sneak mode, and realized I'd been using it the entire time in town. Now they give me food and ammo for free.
• Once I saw a sheriff gunned down from behind. I took his stuff. Then I killed his killer and took his stuff, too.
• My natural inclination is to play the good side of the Force -- that doesn't mean I don't want to be paid for my efforts.
  

Fallout 3 is so far a great game and another I highly recommend, excepting children.

NHL 09

I just recently purchased NHL 2009 for the Playstation 3 -- money amazingly well spent if you're a hockey fan. This game is great.

There are a couple graphical glitches away from the ice (sometimes the stands/boards blink black) but graphics and game play are excellent. You can play the entire game in a particular position (playing goalie is surprisingly boring for long stretches of time). Being on the bench after a line change is a convenient way to relax for a few moments after the rush of on-ice action.

The AI is pretty good. I actually think I've been geting more ice time when I play well, less if I'm not.

There are several game modes one of which is "Be A Pro" where my created player is just beginning his professional hockey career.

Having recently joined the Canucks' AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose (5-0), 19-year old Jean-Luc Picard plays left wing, shoots right, is 6-ft. 195 lb and wears jersey #17. Picard began the season on the 3rd line and after 11 points (8 goals, 3 assists) in five games Picard has been moved to the 2nd line. Assuming Picard continues to play well he has a good chance to make the 1st line -- and to ultimately get called up by the Canucks and play in the NHL.

Expect further updates on this Vancouver native's promising hockey career.

Luke Skywalker is a wimp

Luke Skywalker is a wimp. Relatively speaking.

Let's see, in Return of the Jedi Luke Skywalker was defeated by Emperor Palpatine. Only via Anakin Skywalker's intervention was Luke saved and the Emperor killed.

Now we have Star Wars: Force Unleashed for the Nintendo Wii -- MAJOR SPOILERS MAY FOLLOW -- with the main character Starkiller.

Starkiller, if you complete the game, ends up defeating both Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine in turn. See that? That's how it's done, Luke.

Oh yeah, speaking of the game, what's with the extreme don't kill the Emperor, Palpatine is already defeated moronicity. Starkiller won't kill Palpatine because even though he's just killed hundreds of stormtroopers on his way there, executing Palpatine would be wrong. What's up with that?

What were they planning on doing?! We'll let the defeated Palpatine live as we escape the Death Star, so that we can officially form the Rebel Alliance who's prime directive is to oppose the Galactic Empire led by... Palpatine.... Eh?

Star Wars: Force Unleashed

I was really looking forward to Star Wars: Force Unleashed for the Nintendo Wii. What could be better than the Wii's motion sensor controls combined with swinging a lightsaber? Perhaps my expectations were too high but nevertheless Force Unleashed failed to meet them. Don't misunderstand. I'm glad I purchased this game. It's just that Force Unleashed could have been so much more.

Force Unleashed takes place in the period between Episodes III and IV. You play as Darth Vader's apprentice ordered to hunt down Jedi. Faces from the movies show up in parts, which is kind of neat.

When I think of Star Wars I think of epics and inherent in that is time, as in the passing of. My major gripe with Force Unleashed is that it's disappointingly short. Wonderful, engaging story. But too beeping short. I finished it in less than eight hours. Maybe I've been spoiled with the classics, Twilight Princess (72 hours) and Okami (60 hours). Stars and stones, even Lego Star Wars was 25 hours.

Another problem with Force Unleashed is the graphics. I didn't buy a Wii expecting PS3 graphics, but I do expect the absence of jagged straight lines.

Gameplay is fine. There's nothing quite like swinging a lightsaber around or throwing stormtroopers around using the Force. Still, some of the different Force techniques are difficult to execute. I'd wave the remote/nunchuk around and press buttons as instructed but success felt haphazard and random. I ended up using only two Force powers regularly (Force Push and Lightning) because they were the most efficient powers I could use confidently. Perhaps I just need practice with the others techniques.

The Star Wars franchise lends a mystique to any game it places its name on. Star Wars gets bonus points just for being Star Wars. Still, if Force Unleashed instead of occurring in the Star Wars universe was a sword and sorcery deal I'm not so sure I'd have bought the game. Despite the multiple Force powers minion and boss battles are very simplistic. It's pretty much hack'n slash with Force powers thrown in. Bosses have no weaknesses to look for. Rush up to the boss, swing your lightsaber and wait for the finishing sequence (where you wave the remote/nunchuk when prompted to deal significant damage).

Finishing sequences bring up another quibble. In order to get the timing right, it was difficult for me to concentrate on what was happening on the screen. I'd concentrate on looking at the remote/nunchuk prompts and miss out on the actual action on screen.

Another thing that makes battles, especially long ones, a little boring is the way the game designers worked out death. Actually, I'm of two minds of how they implemented it. If Starkiller (your character) dies you simply respawn with no significant consequences, except for a boss regaining only a slight portion of health. Minions you've killed stay dead, areas you've cleared are still completed. Starkiller can die as many times as you want.

Why am I of two minds? First, I'm glad the designers handled death the way they did because as I said fights are hack'n slash. Bosses have no vulnerabilities to look for, so I sometimes needed multiple respawns to get by a boss. If I had had to defeat some bosses with one life, starting completely over if I respawned, then it would have become irritatingly frustrating. Second, I lost my fear of Starkiller dieing. Dead? Who cares? Getting shot from behind? I don't care. Health bar almost empty? Heh, instead of looking for healing I'll just go ahead and charge that platoon of stormtroopers.

Although I've talked about a lot of negatives in Force Unleashed, as I said before I'm glad I bought this game. It's Star Wars. I get to swing a lightsaber. It has a great (albeit short) story. If you're a Star Wars fan, definitely buy it. If not, you might consider giving this one a pass.

Okami

After 55-60 hours of playing time, I recently finished Okami for the Nintendo Wii. Okami is a great game, definitely a keeper along with Twilight Princess.

The first thing that struck me when playing Okami was the art: watching grass and flowers bloom as you restore a cursed, blackened land is a treat.

The incorporation of the motion-sensing capabilities of the Wii remote into the game is very well done. One of the key actions in the game is using brush techniques -- you use the Wii remote like a paint brush eg. paint a line across an enemy to damage it, paint a circle around a tree to make it bloom or in the sky to make the sun appear, paint in a broken bridge to make it whole.

I guess I'd describe Okami as an adventure game in an ancient Japan-like setting. The story is based heavily on Japanese mythology. You play a god-wolf trying to literally restore the land from evil. The artwork is such so that it's like you're reading through an ancient scroll with the story and pictures drawn out in front of you. As the wolf runs you see flowers bloom at her feet; when she jumps maple leaves scatter.

Battles are interesting but ultimately not too tough. I never died during the game (through the use of many healing aids) but I came close. Okami is fun because of how the brushwork is smoothly incorporated into fights and for the need to figure out an opponent's weakness.

So... Okami has great game play, wonderful art, and an intriguing story. What more could you possibly want?

The final battle and conclusion to the game were emotionally satisfying. This is the first time a game has made me (almost!) tear up. The game developers also left avenues for an obvious sequel. Unfortunately, I've read that the Okami developers are no longer in business. I guess it will be up to good sales to determine whether another company takes up the Okami mantle. I'm crossing my fingers.

Aside: I might not finish Resident Evil 4; RE4 has been relegated to "if I have nothing else to play" status. I don't have enough ammunition to finish a particular boss fight and going back to repeat chapters in order to conserve ammunition lacks a certain appeal.

Resident Evil 4: Wii edition

This is just a mid-game comment on Resident Evil 4: Wii edition. I purchased this game in the first glow of my Nintendo Wii, along with a bunch of other games with good ratings (Twilight Princess, Lego Star Wars, Metroid Prime 3). Well, as Resident Evil 4's turn came up, the glow had long since worn off and I began to grow wary.

Generally I don't do well with suspense and horror, and Resident Evil 4 has that in spades. Another worry was whether the game was a 1st person shooter; I get dizzy and headaches playing those. Fortunately, RE4 is played mostly in the 3rd person, like Twilight Princess, so I only get a low-grade but bearable headache when playing. I decided to give RE4 a try before deciding whether or not to keep it.

The first time I tried it (and presently I'm still in the middle of Chapter 1) I was mobbed by not-zombies and quickly ran out of ammunition. This happened multiple times. When Leon's (the character you play) head was chopped off by a chainsaw-wielding not-zombie seemingly immune to bullets, I freaked out. Hey, I already said I can't handle horror! Anywhoo, I decided that this game was not for me and resolved not to play it again.

Time mutes fear, however. There were aspects of the game I really enjoyed. I looked online for hints as to how to avoid Leon's impersonation of a headless chicken. I tried playing RE4 again, and now I'm going to play until I complete it.

Why? I've become a little used to the not-zombies (familiarity breeds contempt?). I realized that it's okay to run away. I'm not fleeing in panic (really!), I'm defeating not-zombies in detail. The game play is smooth (I guess I'm still expecting pauses and lock-ups as with PC games), and it's unexpectedly satisfying to use modern-day weapons and not primitive weapons like in Twilight Princess, or futuristic ones like in Lego Star Wars. The vast majority of games I've played are RPGs like AD&D, swords and sorcery. In RE4 you use pistols and shotguns and grenades. Guns just feel more weighty. More oomph. More real. Visceral.

Hearing the crack of guns firing, spinning around to check your back, jumping through windows, over fences, and kicking down doors, the spooky atmosphere, involving story and more all combine to create a wonderful game play experience. And don't forget the running. Lots and lots of running (see 2nd paragraph, 1st sentence). Lots.

Thank the stars not-zombies are slow.

Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga

When I was debating whether or not to buy a game console, the chance to play Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga was a significant plus. After finishing Twilight Princess I immediately plunged into Lego Star Wars, and after 20-25 hours of playing time I completed the story portion of the game. If I was motivated, trying to complete the game in free play mode would extend playing time considerably.

It's fun. Easier than I expected due to limitless lives, but over all pretty good. Seeing Chewbacca rip the arms off a stormtrooper for the first time was hilarious. Wha-- did Chewie do what I think he did?! Stomping on 'troopers with an AT-ST is pretty fun, too. :o) The puzzles are for the most part modest, though there were a few that were a pain because I had no idea what to do in order to move on (Hint: on Hoth, straight south and use a mine).

When I try to come up with a comparison all I can think of is Mario in space, and as I've never touched a Mario game take it for what it's worth.

My Mario ignorance may soon be over. After I start and finish Resident Evil 4 (assuming game play doesn't make me dizzy) it's either Mario Kart (assuming I can find a copy) or Okami (which has also received rave reviews). Heck, I'll most likely end up buying both; it's just a question of in which order.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Wow, I just completed The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess on the Nintendo Wii. This is a great, if at times frustrating, game, and one that I recommend highly.

Twilight Princess has excellent gameplay, nice graphics, interesting story, and sometimes devious (hence the frustrating part) puzzles; the puzzles, however, always turned out to be logical. No trick questions, here.

It took me 72 hours, 16 minutes, plus an hour or so playing time to complete the game. The variability results from the fact that you can't save games during the final scenes/battles. Well, you can save your game, but when you load it always sends you back to before you meet the final boss. Wangos. When I discovered this tiny relevant fact my frustration level reached an all time high.

Spoilers may follow.

I say "may" follow because I mention things in the game without providing background. So unless you're familiar with Twilight Princess you might have difficulty understanding the context.

Completing Twilight Princess was supremely satisfying. Why? Because I had a heck of the time defeating the final boss in his last iteration. The difficulty stemmed from the fact that despite learning it from the Golden Wolf, I had never mastered the backslice. My success with that technique always seemed random. I jumped and swung my sword, and sometimes it worked but more often not. For myself, getting out of the backslice training session was one of the most difficult parts of the game.

Anywhoo, once I did learn how to perform the backslice on demand, the final boss went down without trouble. It's just a matter of being patient and persevering, since the boss will block you after you get a couple strikes in.

I never collected all the Poes -- there's 60 of them?! I only collected 29.

I think the second Star Game with the double-clawshot is much easier than the first.

The non-speaking lines was novel at first, but after a while I kind of wish they included speaking lines.

I wonder what the maximum number of hearts, is. Is there 10 on the top row? I think I ended up with 14 - 17, then.

There are a lot of mini-games and other stuff I didn't complete. I wish that after you complete the game they'd let you wander around and finish everything.

I'm not sure if I want to replay this game, but I'm mighty tempted; I've been playing on an old dinky 24-26" CRT television. How amazing would it look on a 42" LCD flatscreen?

On to the next game.... :o)

Wii Sports

Much of my leisure time used to be spent playing computer games. Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dales, Neverwinter Nights, Knights of the Old Republic, Civilization -- I played these games over and over. Repeatedly. Again and again.

I'd play it through once, pick a different character, and play it through again until I'd gone through all the character classes. And then I'd find a character trainer and start the entire process once more. Then I'd forget the trainer and try to complete the game without dieing. You get the point -- PC games were supreme and game consoles were for people with money to spare.

This continued until one day it finally sunk in that I had a couple unopened games sitting on my shelf, new games that had been sitting neglected for months. This pretty much finalized the end of my PC game playing days. I spent my leisure hours with other activities.

I'd heard of the Nintendo Wii when it was first released, but at the time I wasn't interested in console games, and my only thought was, Wii is such a stupid name.

Anywhoo, to cut this overly long preamble, after trying my brother's Wii during Christmas holidays I decided to get one myself. The graphics for Wii aren't as nice as other consoles like Playstation or XBox, but I think it's more fun. The Wii remote has motion sensors so its movements are included in the game. For example, to swing a sword or tennis racket you swing the remote. In baseball you swing the remote as if you were holding a bat. In boxing you punch the air while holding the remotes. It's pretty fun.

After much searching I finally found one (I can't believe Wii's are still backordered; how long is it since its launch!?). One of the best things about the Wii is that it comes with Wii Sports (Hurah! I've finally reached the reason for my post title!) -- it has tennis, baseball, golf, bowling, and boxing. My favourites are tennis, baseball, and golf.

There is one thing about tennis that annoys me. I find it very frustrating that I can win a match and still lose "skill points" (when your Mii, the player's avatar, reaches 1000 points the Mii earns "pro" status). Anywhoo, given this puzzling point system, I've been wavering back and forth, above and below the 1000 mark, despite winning all of my matches. Sometimes I swing my racket when I'm no where near the ball, just because. Does this action make me lose skill points? Annoying.