Monthly Summary - September 2011

COMPLETED THIS MONTH:

Rock of Ages

GiantBomb introduced this one to me with the Quick Look. I decided to buy it after playing through the trial version, and was then made to replay the same levels - good start! I played through all of the single player mode in a few short sessions and had a great time, though I am in agreement with the majority of reviewers that the tower defense aspect isn't effective enough to make the gameplay varied each time. It all comes down to racing down the course faster than the other guy, and you'll rarely get lucky enough to catch out your opponent with your item placement. I suggest playing this in multiplayer, and it supports co-op as well as online play. We had a few games of it, and playing on the simpler courses meant that tower, catapult and barrel placement actually needed to be thought out. Do you save your resources to block the opponent off at a chokepoint, or scatter stuff about each time to try to knock them off course? I'd recommend a playthrough and some multiplayer action for the obsurdity of the visuals, cutscenes and concept.

Completed: 9th September 2011 (21:00)

Rating: 4

Driver: San Francisco

The core concept of jumping out of a car, flying around the city and jumping into another is used so damn well in Driver SF that it makes for one of my game of the year contenders. I played through the entire single player experience (minus a fair chunk of the side missions), a few sessions online, and played a lot of the split screen. The shift mechanic is such a great idea and Reflections used it and a lot of interesting ways; You get to play as different characters, juggle multiple cars in races, set up road blocks or just grab incoming traffic to aid in chases and a whole lot more. Online, the way the mechanic adds new dimensions to tag and chase game modes is very interesting. I will definitely jump back in at some point.

Completed: 10th September 2011 (12:20)

Rating: 5

Tales From Space: About A Blob

A co-op 2D platformer where the core mechanics are absorbing items to increase in size, as well as having attract and repel powers. This was a fun game to come back to every now and then and we finally completed it this month. Nothing special but I'd recommend it for co-op players. Gets quite difficult in spots with some tight platforming but generally inoffensive.

Completed: 12th September 2011 (22:10)

Rating: 3

Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Finished this one off in a couple of sessions relying on excessive use of the save function! Never played to the end on the Megadrive so was cool to see if through now. I'll get the 3 and '& Knuckles' done too soon. Fun!

Completed: 13th September 2011 (21:25)

Rating: 3

Max Payne 2

Still a masterpiece even in to this day. The combat, story, tone and graphical style, the incidental details in the environment and chatter between enemies when they don't know you're there make this one of my all-time favourite games. I hope Max Payne 3 has its own incidental touches but without Remedy behind it I'm sceptical. If you haven't played MP2 before, play it right this minute. It's better than most of this year's releases.

Completed: 15th September 2011 (22:10)

Rating: 5

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

I really enjoyed this one. I played it the way it's clearly intended to be played - as a stealth game, but with weapons in my inventory for boss battles. I love the character abilities and the persuasion stuff in conversations. It's not as revolutionary as it could have been, but It's very well put together and an all-round good time.

Completed: 25th September 2011 (18:30)

Rating: 5

BTTF The Game (Episodes 4 & 5)

I think the game really stepped up in these episodes and went some crazy places especially in Episode 5. I'm glad I played through it but wouldn't recommend it to anyone that doesn't love Back To The Future. There isn't enough challenge in the puzzles.

Completed: 3rd September 2011 (22:10)

Rating: 3

Completed: 10th September 2011 (01:15)

Rating: 4

ALSO PLAYED THIS MONTH:

F3AR - Played one level in co-op, got fucking intense. Gonna finish it in October!

Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow - Played the first few levels, up to the train.

Toy Soldiers: Cold War- Played a few missions.

TrackMania 2 - Only able to play at work but I love it so much.

Crimson Alliance - Played through the first level.

Dead Island - Played for several hours exclusively in co-op.

Gears of War 3 - Played until the end of Act 2.

Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet - Played Lantern Run and some single player.

Burnout Crash - Played one level.

Four Swords - Played for all of twenty seconds in 4 player whilst attending a fire drill.

Scores Summary

FULL GAMES:

Rock of Ages [2011] (4)

Driver San Francisco [2011] (5)

Tales from Space: About A Blob [2011] (3)

Sonic The Hedgehog 2 [1992] (3)

Max Payne 2 [2003] (5)

Deus Ex: Human Revolution [2011] (5)

EPISODIC GAMES:

4 - Double Visions [BTTF The Game] (3)

5 - OUTTATIME [BTTF The Game] (4)

Game of the Month:

2011 Release: Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Most Played: Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Overall: Max Payne 2