Video Games

Been playing counterstrike on the Mac over the weekend. Not sure why but it doesn't seem as smooth on the mac as it was on the pc :(

Red Dead redemption completed.

Was a bit of a shocking finish tobehonest. I liked it though.

Twas a great story.

So I went to visit my family in Winchester at the weekend..

Knowing my brother was out of town and that there'd be an xBox 360 and bloody great TV all on their own I thought I'd buy a copy of Red Dead Redemption to play.

So I played. And played. And played. And probably to the detriment of my enjoyment of the game, I completed the main story line and maxxed out most of the challenges (Didn't try multi-player at all knowing I was on a time limit and couldn't bear to leave the single player campaign unfinished without knowing what happened to John)

Verdict. Good, but disappointing. I know I rushed it, but honestly, the amount of expository and travelling was just immense. I found any number of bugs and glitches which was a pain (not being a console player normally I didn't expect this) - I just assume that they release working content, perhaps naively. This is down to my only real console experience being sucked into Zelda and the Ocarina of time on the N64 while I was at university. In those days consoles didn't have internet connections and hot fixes and patches etc.

So anyway: problems were constant glitches and bugs, LOTS of travelling; seriously most of the game was spent riding a fucking wagon from one side of the map to the other while trying not to get shot by the same bandits spawning in the same place wearing the same clothes, or have my horse ripped apart from underneath me by a fucking cougar.

Potentially spoilers

First episode - great.

Second episode - good.

Seriously - Big Red Dead Redemption Spoilers Ahead

Third episode - weak - I understand they were trying to show development and evolution in frontier life to a modernised society but still - it only really picked up what the first episodes had when they stormed Dutch's fort up in Tall Trees.

Fourth episode/prologue - in fact I think this was my favourite to be honest. One thing I really loved about the first episode was herding the cattle with Bonnie so I thought the idea of him putting together his own ranch was a real reward both for the character and the player. The final conclusion for John was obviously a bit abrupt. I also thought it was a bit of a shock tactic - they sacrificed his character for the sake of it - I certainly don't think the game benefited in any way. Even with the clichéd prologue with Jack heading down to Mexico to seek revenge on Ross.

Enjoyed the many subplots/missions, enjoyed hunting, gambling, the honour and fame system was cool. Didn't enjoy getting mauled by cougars, didn't fare very well with duelling, loved the dead eye feature, obviously enjoyed the Rockstar* touch on dialogue/humour etc.

I'd love to try out the multi-player, and I'd like to dedicate more time to exploring - which brings me to another point. Despite my whining about how bloody long it took to get anyway, it still didn't feel big enough... It felt cheap how the terrain varied so wildly within such a short space.

I understand wanting to cram in variation but honestly, the snow-capped mountains of the Rockies, the great plains, arroyos and deserts, canyons, great rivers, great lakes, swamps of Louisiana - it just felt like they were shoehorning everything in. Each area was too small to really get a feel for and appreciate the scale of it. The Great Plains for example would have been fucking amazing - if it didn't take you thirty seconds to ride across the entire thing.

Basically, good but it could have been GREAT.

7/10

So I went to visit my family in Winchester at the weekend..

Knowing my brother was out of town and that there'd be an xBox 360 and bloody great TV all on their own I thought I'd buy a copy of Red Dead Redemption to play.

So I played. And played. And played. And probably to the detriment of my enjoyment of the game, I completed the main story line and maxxed out most of the challenges (Didn't try multi-player at all knowing I was on a time limit and couldn't bear to leave the single player campaign unfinished without knowing what happened to John)

Verdict. Good, but disappointing. I know I rushed it, but honestly, the amount of expository and travelling was just immense. I found any number of bugs and glitches which was a pain (not being a console player normally I didn't expect this) - I just assume that they release working content, perhaps naively. This is down to my only real console experience being sucked into Zelda and the Ocarina of time on the N64 while I was at university. In those days consoles didn't have internet connections and hot fixes and patches etc.

So anyway: problems were constant glitches and bugs, LOTS of travelling; seriously most of the game was spent riding a fucking wagon from one side of the map to the other while trying not to get shot by the same bandits spawning in the same place wearing the same clothes, or have my horse ripped apart from underneath me by a fucking cougar.

---

Potentially spoilers

---

First episode - great.

Second episode - good.

---

Seriously - Big Red Dead Redemption Spoilers Ahead

---

Third episode - weak - I understand they were trying to show development and evolution in frontier life to a modernised society but still - it only really picked up what the first episodes had when they stormed Dutch's fort up in Tall Trees.

Fourth episode/prologue - in fact I think this was my favourite to be honest. One thing I really loved about the first episode was herding the cattle with Bonnie so I thought the idea of him putting together his own ranch was a real reward both for the character and the player. The final conclusion for John was obviously a bit abrupt. I also thought it was a bit of a shock tactic - they sacrificed his character for the sake of it - I certainly don't think the game benefited in any way. Even with the clichéd prologue with Jack heading down to Mexico to seek revenge on Ross.

Enjoyed the many subplots/missions, enjoyed hunting, gambling, the honour and fame system was cool. Didn't enjoy getting mauled by cougars, didn't fare very well with duelling, loved the dead eye feature, obviously enjoyed the Rockstar* touch on dialogue/humour etc.

I'd love to try out the multi-player, and I'd like to dedicate more time to exploring - which brings me to another point. Despite my whining about how bloody long it took to get anyway, it still didn't feel big enough... It felt cheap how the terrain varied so wildly within such a short space.

I understand wanting to cram in variation but honestly, the snow-capped mountains of the Rockies, the great plains, arroyos and deserts, canyons, great rivers, great lakes, swamps of Louisiana - it just felt like they were shoehorning everything in. Each area was too small to really get a feel for and appreciate the scale of it. The Great Plains for example would have been fucking amazing - if it didn't take you thirty seconds to ride across the entire thing.

Basically, good but it could have been GREAT.

7/10

Loving the fact that you went to visit your family and spent most of the time killing things on your xbox....an all too familiar tale!

Don't have any of these techo gizmos at my house/hovel so I need to stock up once or twice a year with an electronic binge.. :)

Those are massive spoilers.

Luckily I've already completed the game.

Think I agree with you on a mojority of those points and I didn't like the ending. Would've rathered a better end sequence and then open play rather than what actually happened.

Watched 3:10 to Yuma last night, and that explained a lot i think...

Don't have any of these techo gizmos at my house/hovel so I need to stock up once or twice a year with an electronic binge.. :)

My bro is a electronic binger! he gets tapped in to big old games like Zelda or something and then has to collect everything! he is a sick man. My favourite ever thing was trying to get all the cheats on Goldeneye on N64

Watched 3:10 to Yuma last night, and that explained a lot i think...

Fucking love that film - both versions of them.
I'm a bit of an avid western fan. So to have an open world game set then sounded too good to be true..

My bro is a electronic binger! he gets tapped in to big old games like Zelda or something and then has to collect everything! he is a sick man. My favourite ever thing was trying to get all the cheats on Goldeneye on N64

Never played Goldeneye. Seriously - I moved into a house in my second year at uni and the previous tenants had left an N64 and Zelda in the cupboard. That was my summer until I had completed the bloody thing.

Never played Goldeneye. Seriously - I moved into a house in my second year at uni and the previous tenants had left an N64 and Zelda in the cupboard. That was my summer until I had completed the bloody thing.

was that Zelda: ocarina of time? going round fishing and messing around with chickens?

Never played Goldeneye. Seriously - I moved into a house in my second year at uni and the previous tenants had left an N64 and Zelda in the cupboard. That was my summer until I had completed the bloody thing.

and for those who still haven't played the great goldeneye its being remade
..for wii (why i wonder as it would appeal more to hardcore 360ers and ps3ers)

was that Zelda: ocarina of time? going round fishing and messing around with chickens?

And the holy grail that was: the pony.

Fucking. Amazing.

and for those who still haven't played the great goldeneye its being remade
..for wii (why i wonder as it would appeal more to hardcore 360ers and ps3ers)

My initial thought when you said that was meh that will be rubbish with a pointy and shooty controller, but then I thought no don't be so cynical this could be amazing and the best thing ever as I reminisced about how good goldeneye was and the possibilities with a good controller set up.....hmmm will have to see but am unconvinced by wii controllers so far.

J

The new DLC for Red Dead is pretty good. Played it online yesterday and the co op missions are a really good laugh.

My initial thought when you said that was meh that will be rubbish with a pointy and shooty controller, but then I thought no don't be so cynical this could be amazing and the best thing ever as I reminisced about how good goldeneye was and the possibilities with a good controller set up.....hmmm will have to see but am unconvinced by wii controllers so far.

J

I have to agree, I can just see this failing. The original was superb but I just hope they haven't changed too much.

And the holy grail that was: the pony.

Fucking. Amazing.

Oh yeah I remember doing the pony archer stuff and playing the flute for the strange mountain guy. one of my fave cut scenes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aw74lodqNYM

I just shed a happy tear :)

I have to agree, I can just see this failing. The original was superb but I just hope they haven't changed too much.

They tried to remake it once before with Perfect Dark.

It was on the playstation and shit.

Every time my girlfriend tells me to throw out the N64 all I can say is golden eye and Mario Kart.

the N64 stays!

They tried to remake it once before with Perfect Dark.

It was on the playstation and shit.

Every time my girlfriend tells me to throw out the N64 all I can say is golden eye and Mario Kart.

the N64 stays!

Perfect Dark on the N64 was ok but not amazing, co-op multiplayer against bots and chucking laptop guns down was fun. Perfect Dark Zero on the 360 was pretty weak tho. At the end of the day the storyline for the series was atrocious regardless of gameplay.

golden eye was one-of-a-kind.

it can't be bettered because it is what it is. It can't be re-hashed.

RARE have tried this with Star Fox and loads of other stuff.

The only good re-release I've played from the golden RARE era was a re-makes for the DS. Diddy Kong racing was sweet!!!!

Anyone use an online rental company for games?
Or know of any? (Other than LoveFilm)

Also goldeneye was great in 1998 but I don't think it will compare these days.
I used to <3 doom 2, but the thought of playing it now would ruin the rose tint in my glasses

All this talk of zelda has made me crack out the gamecube! Now, do I play Ocarina of time, or OoT: Master quest?

You play metroid prime Classic!

(Just picked up majoras mask for the cube. what a strange game that is)

Sol Calibur on the game cube was the fighting game of legend.

It's great on the xbox, but just not the same!

Also goldeneye was great in 1998 but I don't think it will compare these days.
I used to <3 doom 2, but the thought of playing it now would ruin the rose tint in my glasses

I take the point but I actually think that Goldeneye got so much right that it still could be great. but i think what really made it for me was the responsiveness. shooting people, it made a great sound when the bullet hit, the controller shook and the aiming and firing was responsive and spot on. more recent games (like Halo on 360 for example - feel like you are shooting nothing, the aiming is not as good, the responsiveness of the controller and the feel are inferior imho)

anyway, just remember all the fun as you ran forward/strafing (to go faster) on multiplayer unleashing a hail of bullets on your mate......or the mexican standoffs at doors......or playing proximity mines. my fave was always license to kill, no radar, facility, pistols although sometimes the temple and the lIbrary with grenade launches were entertaining.