Didn’t think so.
It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Despite it being my final year of school, I’ve played quite a bit in the last ten months or so. Some new titles, some older ones. Not really earning anything I’d call reliable income at the moment so a lot of my purchases are games from two or more years ago that have dropped in price. It’s a decent tactic all round, but especially worthwhile in Australia where games are overpriced to hell. The example I’ll always use to put this into perspective is GTA IV. Back at its release date in early 2008 when the Aussie and American dollar were almost 1:1, Americans paid US $60, we paid AUS $120. No-fucking-thanks.
Here’s a quick run down of the games I’ve experienced for the first time over these months though, not necessarily new titles, along with a sentence review for each. Aaaaaand… go.
Megaman 9: Brutal gameplay with death traps designed to catch you out the first time through, but ultimately rewarding and fun. 4/5
Portal Still Alive: Brilliantly unique and innovative fun, one of my new favourite games. 5/5
Braid: Fantastically emotional music alongside some absolutely mind bending puzzles. 5/5
Gears of War 2: Bit too much emotional story for a Gears game but very rewarding and satisfying gameplay. 5/5
Metroid Prime 3 Corruption: Great controls and visuals but not the way I’d like this trilogy to be wrapped up. 4/5
Professor Layton & the Curious Village: Fantastic collection of brainteasers with a really neat narrative and a really cool cartoony visual style to tie them together. 5/5
Wii Fit: Not really the game for me but all the same there are better methods of exercise I’d recommend. 3/5
Bioshock: Brilliant claustrophobic environment with a gripping narrative. 5/5
The Maw: Cool platform/adventure game albeit a bit short and lacking imagination. 4/5
Viva Pinata Trouble in Paradise: More like an expansion pack of the original game, but still good for franchise newcomers. 4/5
Quantum of Solace DS: Rubbish bargain bin game fully controlled via the touchscreen with the DS held on its side. 1/5
Chrono Trigger DS: Easily amoung the best RPGs of all time, should’ve been released in PAL regions a lot earlier. 5/5
Pokemon Platinum: Some nice additions, probably the definitive Pokemon game, but if you have Diamond/Pearl and aren’t a hardcore fan it isn’t worth it. 3/5
Half Life 2 Xbox Edition: Good bargain-priced game, but this version’s lag and visuals make me want to get the Orange Box instead. 3/5.
So there you go. And even though that’s a pretty big list for one blog, there’s so many things I’ve missed out on that it’s really getting on my nerves. I wrote up a list of games I really had to play and/or beat according to the top lists of others a little while ago, and it’s already in the eighties. Some of the games on the list are pretty embarrassing to not have played yet, but all the same if there’s a bunch of classics out there like Chrono Trigger that I’m still yet to taste, bring them the fuck on.
~Kowz
