Lara wants to give me a Trophy

I heard the rumors; I read the speculation. But now it looks to be true. I popped in Tomb Raider: Underworld because I heard that a Trophy update was due out before the end of May. I was excited to see the update prompt: Version 1.01 available.

I continued from my save point (I'm at the last part of Valhalla), it did not give me trophies (retroactive), I will need to start over. The trophy list did show up under the XMB selection.

Honestly, I am not excited about starting over. I don't know if it is because the game is not fun enough or because I have not finished it first.

"I want cake!" (Beta Impressions)

Fat Princess was fun. The beta consisted of one environment (map) with two playable games: capture the Princess and death-match. Playing on-line with friends (up to 31 others) was a lot more fun than against the bots: you can hide from human players, but the computer always knows where you are. The colors are cartoonish, but don’t let that fool you: there is blood and gore. Happily, you can disable the splat-fest for the entertainment of younger players. Locally, there is only one player: no split screen. In my house, that would have been more desirable. There is a class system and a progression of classes through-out the game. I mostly focused on the ‘worker’ to build up the ‘warrior,’ then with the upgraded warrior I could sneak into the enemy castle and steal my princess. I was successful many times. I was thankful to the ‘priest’ class who can heal as you carry the large princess home. In the end, I became board with one map, and the music began to grate my nerves. I’ll probably pick this up after the price drop on the PSN. Hmmmm, I have a strange desire for some cake right now...

Anticipation

I was in a pub last night when a fellow gamer (JK) stated that there are no new games coming out. I had to disagree. I present to you my list of anticipated games. Modern Warfare 2 Due out 11-10-09 A must buy! Isn't it on everyone's list? I have an issue. I may get this on Xbox (more on that in this post [link]). GhostBusters Releases June 2009 I loved the first movie - it's part of my life. The game is written by and contains the voices of the original cast members (Except Ms. Weaver). Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Fall 2009? I loved Uncharted: Drakes Fortune. This version adds multiplayer and hopefully improves the gameplay a little. MAG (Massive Action Game) No release date yet (E3?) 256 online players. Made by the SOCOM guys. It will be an improved SOCOM: Confrontation. ElMico is not waiting patiently for this one. InFAMOUS Available Now! I'll wait for the personal reviews on this one. It's on my list...

Red Faction: Guerrilla Out in June 2009 I have the demo - looks pretty good. Its main selling point is that everything is completely destructible. Valkyria Chronicles This came out back in November 2008. This is a Turn-based-RPG game. It has gotten great reviews. I have a friend in Singapore who is encouranging me to get this.

Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time Fall 2009 Another one from ElMico. We have every other R&C title. Anything from Insomiac is worth buying.

Resistance: Retribution Out since March 2009 I know this is PSP - but it does 'infect' with the PS3 Resistance 2. As stated above, anything by Insonmiac is worth the price.

Prototype June 2009 Similar to InFAMOUS, this looks like a sandbox-destruction fest. I'll wait on the reviews...

Prince of Persia Out in December 2009 It looks like fun - I'll try to pick it up used.

Patapon2 Out on May 2009 I love Patapon, but I have not finished it yet. When done, I will pick up this non-UMD game.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Released in June of 2008 I have a borrowed copy, but no time to play it. But I want to own it.

Flower Released on February 2009 A very different game: not a FPS. PSN download only. Brutal Legend October 2009

Jack Black as a Roadie. It looks like fun. Fat Princess Hopefully out soon! I got in on the beta of this one. It's capture the flag with princesses. To make your princess (flag) more difficult for the enemy to carry, you feed it cake. Funny and bloody.

Dead Space Out in December 2008 I played the Demo - it was hard. But I still want to work my way through this one. I'll buy it used.

Damnation May 2009 "Steam Punk" The 3D fighting in the multiplayer looks very different.

Command & Conquer Read Alert 3 March 2009 I love the campy feel of this real time strategy game. I lost playing the demo - too complicated. I will get this once the price drops.

Batman: Arkham Asylum Summer 2009 The gameplay videos of this looks really awesome. I normally don't play 'super hero' games, but I'd like to give this one a try.

Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood Due out in June 2009 A western FPS? What a neat idea. I hope it reviews well.

Overlord 2 June 2009? I have Overlord - it's still in the plastic. Wolfenstein I don't know anything about this title other than it's history. Wet

September 2009? I girl with a blade and a gun. Battlefield: Bad Company

Available for a while now On online friend plays this and says it's good. A sequel is in the works. X Blades

Out now

Another girl with knives. If I can find it for $10, I'll pick it up.

The Saboteur November 2009 "I know nothing-k" Red Dead Redemption October 2009

Another wild west FPS? Don't know.

Darksiders

August 2009

Another title that I am watching with little information.

Borderlands

June 2009

It's by 2K. Vehicle combat.

Assassin's Creed 2

November 2009

I got 1/2 way through the first one - it got to repetitive. But it was a good game. I'll finish AC so I know how the story ends.

Dante's Inferno

No release date

Looks like God of War.

Alpha Protocol

October 2009

Splinter Cell plus RPG skill building.

I will update this page as I find more and buy more

FPS: Firing People Sluggishly

I finally finished the KillZone 2 campaign. It took me a while due to a glitch and moving on to BioShock. It was a great FPS – and it improved as I played. The last two levels were the best: Maelstra Barrens because of the “vehicle” and Visari Palace because you finally get to face Radec. Many complain about the controls – yes, they are sluggish, but I applaud Guerilla Games for trying something different and trying to make it more realistic. After playing with the sensitivity and – of course – playing a lot, I finally got it down. But I can’t switch back to Call of Duty, I would get slaughtered.

The environments are beautiful and diverse. One level you are in a dust storm; the next on a moving train. The enemy AI is also very different. This is not a run-and-gun game; I had to plan attacks. My best tactic was to use a grenade, not to kill, but to move the Helghast scum out from cover.

Eventhough the campaign is good, the on-line multiplayer part of KZ2 is where I spend most of my time. The game concept is similar to Team Fortress 2 with different solder classes, but much more. As you gain experience, you earn ribbons and medals which earn you new abilities. I’ve maxed out my Medic class and I am still continuing to work on my Engineer.

My favorite game is War Zone. In this mode, you seamlessly cycle through seven games: Body Count (deathmatch), Capture and Hold (capture the flag), Search and Retrieve (My favorite – like tag), Search and Destroy (like headquarters), and Assassination (it picks me 50% of the time!). It randomly selects the next game in the cycle, and rarely will one side dominate every game. Its always fun.

I don’t think I will play the entire campaign straight through again. Now that I have completed the game on Normal mode, I can go to each section of each mission and play it again. This is great for earning trophies. Also, the game keeps detailed statistics. It tracks each shot from each gun and each kill – pages of stats. If that is not enough detail, you can go to KillZone.com, there you see a replay of each on-line match you have played. This is a real-time review of the match using an overhead map and colored dots! Interesting stuff, but I’d rather play.

My goal is to get in the top 10% in stats for the week (if I do, I get a trophy). I’ve made it to the top 20; I guess I’ll keep trying.

BioShock

I finished BioShock. It was lauded as the best game of 2007. I’d have to agree, but two years later. The developers at 2K made the world of Rapture deep, rich, and satisfying. For example: as you travel through the city, you find tape recorders. At first I thought, “How silly. I need to listen to all these things to find clues.” But instead I begin to enjoy them; luckily, you can continue your adventure while they play. By listening, you discover about the corpse you just plundered: sometimes funny, others tragic, and occasionally a hint to an upcoming puzzle. It gave the story depth as you uncover the personal history of Rapture.

My favorite level was Fort Frolic where you complete Sander Cohen’s Masterpiece. The script for this part was great and the voice actor believable – very over-the-top. Here is where you get another device that develops (pun intended) greater game-play: a camera. The camera is used to do “research” on the various enemies by photographing them. Your strategy changes – because you want a close shot of each one before you kill it. The benefit is that you learn each adversary’s name and eventually its weakness. I now know the difference between every Splicer and the name of every Big Daddy – the more intimate you are with a game, the more you become a part of the game.

As to the Little Sisters, I saved them all. So in the end I got the Happy-Happy ending.

All-in-all, this has been the most satisfying PS3 game I have played. I am a big fan of Ayn Rand – so the setting was a delight. The sound and music was haunting and added to the period ambiance. The character AI wasn’t difficult (I played on Normal), but it wasn’t repetitive or predictable. There were surprises and twists – everything ended neatly, but still left you with questions suitable for a sequel.

I did well on the trophies, but the story is very linear. I can’t go back with my present save file to do some of sections that I skipped. An improvement to the game would be to add a biosphere at the end. Then I could go back into Rapture and finish upgrading all my weapons, collecting gene tonics and plasmids, and to complete my research (more trophies). I downloaded the exclusive add-on content from the PSN. I’ll report on that when I finish. If you have not experienced BioShock, it is a “must own” before BioShock2.