10 months, 25 days...

...is how long it took me to finish Resident Evil 5 100% (more or less).

Considering that the series was... well is... still one of my favs, I don't know why it took this long. With it I got my first PS3 platinum trophy though which may seem quite fitting (although was only 3% away from the one in Assassin's Creed 2 and 1 'Crushing' game completion away from it in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune). It was also my 250'th trophy overall.

This was a week or so back now but I kinda reflected it on the fact that I just didn't like RE4 and RE5 (they are of simular styles) compared to the earlier titles. RE4 has a lot of good things that have impacted heavily on the industry as a whole in the past five years but as a sequel to a series I was a big fan of I just wasn't as passionate about it as I was with the earlier games in the series.

There are still a few collectables to gain in RE5, plus some mercenaries missions I haven't done and characters I haven't unlocked. Capcom is releasing the first of their proper DLC in about five days and while I won't get it as DLC content, I probably will buy the Gold Edition game and finish these later. In particular the added scenario which is a homage to the original title is perhaps the main reason why I will, but I'm in no hurry. But I will go through and get the rest later with this version.

It's been said a lot around the net lately but one of the segments from the Heavy Rain demo reminds everyone of the older titles a bit and shows promise that perhaps Capcom can make something that is the best of both worlds for the sixth title in the series. I don't expect Capcom will but it would be nice if they did something more akin to the Umbrella/Tricell lab that's part way through RE5. It was genuinely the best part of the game.

Capcom has been cagey with what they will do next with the series, which isn't surprising. Between RE5 and the two Wii gun outings - Umbrella and Darkside Chronicles - they've kinda put themselves into a corner where there isn't much story left from the original titles. With the exception of porting the two Wii titles to PS3 and 360 to use with their own motion remotes, the studio will need to think long and hard about it.

They could go for following characters from the series we don't know what happened to (Rebecca and Barry in particular, who are both turning up as playables in RE5 Gold's extra mercs rosters) or they have to go with something new but entirely connected. The BSAA in RE5 is probably a good setup for this, but the series is very quickly running out of villains with connection and instead a bland faceless corporation enemy is becoming more and more likely.

I would love to hear something from Capcom at E3, just to confirm they have started working on it (and if a teaser trailer like the target render from E3 for RE5 is a possibility I'd also be happy), but in the mean time I'll have to wait for Dead Rising 2 later this year for a Capcom zombie-related fix.

Last Played: Heavy Rain Demo, Uncharted: Drakes Fortune, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Last Watched: Twins

Utter fail... maybe not...

SO.

I finally got to play the AVP demo on PS3.

Rebellion have noted that they have stuffed up on the PS3 matchmaking which is why the connection never happened and things start to be improving (games can now connect, takes about 5-10 mins - but it's better than never and waiting for over half an hour). I also managed to play some games with my friend Andrew and while my first go at the game left me feeling underwhelmed the subsequent goes I've felt better about the title as I've gotten more play time with it.

In movement the game seems to lack on the PS3, but visually screen-shots themselves show very little difference - as the above shot stolen from online - shows. It's a shame really and I assume it has solely to do with frame rates and AA, and hopefully the Digital Foundry will eventually explain reasons once the game launches later this month.

Last Played: Resident Evil 5, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots, AVP Demo
Last Watched: Black Sheep, Dead Alive (The Weta Workshop Double)

Game Of The Post #4: Assassin's Creed 2

Format: Sony Playstation 3
Adventure/Stealth - 3rd Person
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher: Ubisoft
Released: 2009

What a change a company can make from some good feedback.

I was not entirely convinced Assassin's Creed 2 (Screed 2) would be something worth getting upon release, but in the end I was justified by my selection. I think it helped that another game coming out at the time I picked Screed 2 over was actually horrible and bombed that it made me feel even better about making that decision.

However regardless the game took the parts that made the first title work - exploration with general ease and the ability to kill someone - and wrapped it into a story that was far more compelling than the first, allowed you to skip between areas, allowed you to swim - which was important when one of the areas you're in is Venice - and fixed the pacing which in the original title felt so repetitive you'd really only want to play the game in chunks. Instead sometimes you felt like you wanted to keep going for hours, and numerous people on boards I was at would say they didn't want to put it down frequently unlike the first.

I purchased the collectors set for this. Ubisoft released a regular edition, a white edition with White Cloaked Ezio figure and some small DLC content (most stockists also added in a bag or t-shirt with this version), and the black edition - which I purchased. This came with a Black Cloaked Ezio figure, the DLC content for the white plus more, an artbook and DVD with music and making of material, and a nice detailed packaging.

Unfortunately the game is still quite fresh in my mind (I only completed it in December 09) so at this stage I cant really be very nostalgic about it, so instead I'll return to it later on in a re-run post.

Utter fail...

 

Right now I'd hope to have played (and hopefully be raving) over the multiplayer demo for the upcoming Aliens Vs Predator videogame. It's out on Steam, X-Box Live Marketplace, and the PSN. However it's not the case.

I downloaded the demo yesterday off the PSN for my PS3, and was unfortunately unable to get any connections to any games. Seeing as it was released just an hour or so before then I thought I'd wait a day until more people had it and thus more chance of me playing.

No such luck.

Currently the connection menu has been sitting there for 30 mins trying to find a game. So long in fact my controller powered itself down before hand. Twice.

I gave up.

From what I am hearing and reading around online though is not giving me much hope should I even get to play. The demo is a small map, cut down to 8 players, and the PS3 version in particular is apparently the worst of the lot. There is rumors that the demo is from the build near E3 last year (so several months old) but that makes you wonder why they even bothered to release it, because it's going to do more harm than good.

There is video up on Gametrailers though. At least that's something I can watch.

Game Of The Post #3: Assassin's Creed

Format: Sony Playstation 3
Adventure/Stealth - 3rd Person
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher: Ubisoft
Released: 2007
 
Assassin's Creed ('Screed') seemed to pop up for most people early when the game was being shown around the new style E3 and other trade shows, but I seemed to miss it. The excitement was over a historic stealth assassin game based on extending out abilities Ubisoft Montreal had done with Prince Of Persia. The final game was anything but.... however, we'll get to that in a second.

My friend Andrew knew more about the game than I did, and had pre-ordered and purchased the collectors edition for X-Box 360, which over here sadly came without the super detailed Altair figure (something fixed by the time "Screed 2" arrived). However once he actually played the game he didn't like it. I saw a few mins of it at his house and thought it was okay, but had no real burning need to play it. In fact the only thing I think I knew before the game came out was due to the fact that Kristen Bell had blabbed about the fact that, unlike what the trailers showed, the game was actually taking place in the future and you were enhabiting the DNA embedded memories of people.

However a few months later, wanting to rent something for a day from a local video shop and with little else to choose from, I picked up the PS3 edition and managed to enjoy a number of hours playing it. So much so, that when I saw a copy on sale for half price (well before it was off being full price - but you can buy it now for about $30NZD in some places) I picked it up.

The game play mechanics seemed to have started at an idea of extending the Prince's acrobatics and instead moving them into something which was a little bit more like Free Running, mixed with crazy wall scaling. Visually and gameplay control wise the game had no issues and showed itself off well. Combat was not as smooth as the Prince's either which was a shame, instead you found yourself taking on a single opponant at a time even when surrounded by a number of enemies.

Played correctly information was gleamed by finishing tasks, and could be reviewed to provide you with a stealthy way in (avoid these guards, this wall is unguarded, the people here move at this time of day, this provides you with a place to leap in and kill your target... etc.), but as most people discovered the game could be played easily if you just went in gung ho and hacked the crap out of your targets with a sword or hit them hard with your assassin blade.

Screed succeeded the best when you did exciting missions like these (and even more so if you did it properly), but sadly these were at times few and far between. Instead repetition would set in on laborious work and it was a game that I found myself enjoying, but if only in short blocks of an hour or two at most. The first bit of the game that I'd played through had a good pace, setting up story and getting you into the flow of the missions and this is why I'd been keen enough to make a purchase, however the pacing slowed not much longer after where I started by the time I brought the game.

Still there were great gems of ideas in place, and the story when it was moving forward, was enough to keep me interested into finishing it to the end. The story did a little of an about face by the end of the game handing out a great deal of mystery and a cliff hanger ending. I still own the original game, but I have no real desire to playthrough it again and had it not dropped in price so quickly I probably would have sold it or traded it in by now. Instead I'll stay on my shelf until such time as I sell a bunch of PS3 titles off.

Instead however it also managed to keep me keen to play a sequel, one that would hopefully keep the good of the original game and improve greatly on everything else... I would not be disappointed....