May 2009 PC Games in review

Ooops! I did everything but the blog post!

If you haven't noticed, I posted a new article up yesterday that contains this month's video review!

This month's song is a bit slower than the first one, so there are less games in it, but it's just as long. I reckon I'm improving though!



Thanks for those that have already sent me comments! Feedback is appreciated!

Sonny 2 - the Zombie RPG!

The latest review on the site for Sonny 2 is now up! An RPG where you play as a zombie? After all of the anti-zombie games recently I thought it would be good to play from the other side for a change!

And I thought it was...well you'll just have to read the review to find out!

Click here to read the Sonny 2 review

In other news - the other video should be up at some point over the weekend (possibly tomorrow night!) - the song is written, I just need to finish the "imagary"! If these work out I've got some great ideas for future ones - depending on what games come out. Of course the great thing about games is you can pretty much guess the types of games so some planning is possible. Anyway, off I go...

New Review: Plan It Green!

Yes this was released yesterday, but just as I was about to write a blog post about it, the Battleforge incident came to light.

Plan it green is the latest eco-friendly based time management game from Big Fish Games. The game itself isn't too bad, however...well you'll just have to read the review to find out!

Click here to read the review!

I have to warn you, I watched many Charlie Brooker videos on youtube before writing this review and I think he rubbed off on me a bit (ughhh).

Anger like no other!

I'm not quite over this news yet - I read just now that Battleforge, one of the games I reviewed back in April is now free?!

That's Zero pounds as opposed to the £30 that it was on direct2drive (or still is right now?) To be honest this is a good move from EA, the game isn't worth that kind of money.

Here's the bottom line for those of you (like me) who did get this game at full price. Free versions only have 2 decks included, and they don't get the bf points you start with (3000 if memory serves?).

That still won't stop people (like me) feeling fairly bitter about the whole ordeal but I'm guessing point purchases have not gone as well as EA hoped so this is an attempt to claw back some of that time and money spent developing the game. Really this should have happened to start with when it was released - perhaps that was the plan all along?

My personal feeling is they can have their points back and I'll have my £35 back, but I'd just be wasting my breath. We can only hope lessons have been learnt.

This weeks article: Computer game writing!

I completely abandoned my serialised article on my mmorpg travels this week to write about something else! The Monkfish saga will continue next week, I just thought it would be great to break it up a bit more.

So, this week we have a look into the world of computer game writing and how it's benefitted those games that take it seriously. It's one of my recent annoyances how many developers, through all genres, believe this is something that can be added in near the end. Anyway, to get my full 800 word view on it:

Click here to read the computer game writing article!

Unwell Mel Review!

I never knew being a doctor was so easy! Well, at least it is in Unwell Mel, one of the more recent match-3 offerings from Big Fish Games. Also written by one of the best blitz programmers out there, so I thought it was worth a review.

Click here to read the Unwell Mel review

In terms of this week's article, it's going to be another MMORPG article, mainly because I was on a roll! More on that tomorrow...

New Review - New Star Soccer 4!

I've tried not to say "I'm not a football fan" as much as possible in this review, but I don't think I succeeded! My lack of understanding made reviewing this game pretty difficult. But, even considering that...well you'll have to read the review to find out more!

Read the New Star Soccer 4 review here!

For friday we're going all casual! Casual Gaming! With another "out of my comfort zone" review! Stay tuned!

Meeting the Spy!

If you've not seen Valve's "Meet the team" videos then you've missed some of the best viral marketing ever devised.

The latest of the series is "Meet the Spy" that came out yesterday. Aprantely leaked, How many of these videos are truely leaked these days? And in such complete form?

Anyway, here it is in all it's assasin like glory:

Big Fish Games: Big changes ahead!

For all you casual and puzzle game fans out there this should be of interest!

Big Fish games are removing the obligation to buy a game every month in order to benefit from the lower pricing. This means you can now get any game for $6.99 without having to commit to a years worth of games!

Depending on the types of game you prefer this could be a real saving since many games found on other sites can be bought on Big Fish games. Although I don't think I could bring myself to write yet another hidden object game review since the serpent of Isis review (I just run out of things to say!) I may now be tempted to see what else there is on offer!

This pricing change is probably in response to lowering costs of games on steam and Amazon's purchase of reflexive arcade a while ago. Looks like the pricing wars in the casual gaming sector are really on now! Should be an interesting watch for us gamers!

Todays Article: My MMORPG Life, Part 2!

Yes, it's time to continue the journey of discovery. This time Monkfish, my alter-ego, visits the worlds of Final Fantasy XI and World of Warcraft.

As before, I've not done actual reviews of these games because you can't judge them purely on the game itself. A lot of the experience depends on the other players in the games so this is more of an account of my own experience in these games.

It's fun to write, so I hope it's fun to read!

Click here to read the article!

(Not sure if it'll be a continuation of this next week, I need a break from these. So it may be the week afterwards that this continues.)

On the Mirrors Edge!

Yes I know there's supposed to be an apostraphe there but the sitebuilder app disagreed with it, so I'm working without one!

Aside from that, you should have gathered that my review for Mirrors Edge is up and ready for your ample consumption.

Click here to read the Mirrors Edge Review!

I only reviewed this after it dropped in price, and I don't believe it's worth over £30, so this review is based on it's current price tag of £20!

The April Video: 150 views overall!

Well I've been quite surprised at the positive response from the video, no scathing comments from the youtube firing squad, no one's even bothered to tell me I can't sing! (Not that I need to be told that)

So there will be a May video once we've crept into June and it's going to feature games like Mirror's Edge (review tomorrow), Plants Vs Zombies, New Star GP, and others that have been played over the month.

And no, it won't be to the same tune! I've actually had a kind of mini-career writing music on the internet under the name of "Aymes" - the most popular site I was on was http://www.modarchive.com where I've had over 80,000 downloads of my music. you can see my profile there By clicking here!

Anyway, new review tomorrow, article on Saturday...lots to do!

The Last Resort Review!

Yes, a review I really didn't want to do! Not because I couldn't be bothered or was too lazy/tired (which is my usual excuse) but because I wanted to like this game but just didn't.

The Last Resort is the latest Wallace and Gromit Episode from Telltale games and I thought it was...well you'll have to read the review!

Click here to read the Last Resort Review

In other news look at these addicts! This game appeals to too many people!

Beyond Good and Evil 2 - possible new footage!

Well, for those of you who didn't play the first Beyond Good and Evil game, it was the perfect blend of stealth, action, humour and story. Also is was possibly the best 3rd person perspective game I ever played (apart from my beloved final fantasy games of course).

I speak as if I've loved this game for years but the truth is I only discovered it as part of the Ubisoft deal on steam a few months ago. And it was a truly inspiring game for me. I didn't review it due to it being a few years old though, but the score would easily be in the 80's.

So, after playing it I wondered if a sequel was in the offing - and to my pleasant surprise it is! A few weeks ago I came upon the teaser trailer they released last year:



And then Today, I saw a possible new video of it that was apparently "leaked" (yeah right) from the studio. Viral Marketing if ever I saw it - however after watching it all I could say for several minutes was: "uh, wow"

Take a look for yourself:


Looks strangely like mirror's edge (which co-incidentally I'm bought today and it's slowly arriving) but with more people around. I really love the little "pull yourself into an alley" move Jade does near the beginning of the video!

Looking good, hope the game is as great as the first one!

Plants Vs Zombies Review!

Finally, after actually being addicted to this game I've managed to stop playing long enough to write some interesting words about it. It really was a brilliant game and certainly warrants a look at the demo for...well, nearly anyone!

Click here to read the Plants Vs Zombies review

It's also the reason there is no article this week (well that and I've had a busy week anyway!) So the adventures of Monkfish will resume next weekend!

Current game prices update!

I've noticed a couple of interesting deals recently that I thought I should share with you all!

Defense Grid: The Awakening, is currently only £3.50 on steam. This is an absolute bargain! I had planned to have a review on the site about this already but other more recent games stepped in the way. But for this price I can guarantee that if you like tower defense games, this is a Must Buy!

Mirror's Edge, the great looking free running game by Dice has price dropped to £20 on Direct2Drive. From what I had heard this wasn't really worth the £35 that it was a few weeks ago, but this new price appears to be a bit more reasonable. I'll be getting this in a couple of weeks, mainly for myself since I was quite taken with the trailers.

Crayon Physics Deluxe, now on steam at £16. I'm not sure I agree with this price, I played the demo a couple of months ago and it's good. But then again so is Powerup by Nitrome (which is also free!) and Plants Vs Zombies (review tonight!) which is only £7, half the price of Crayon Physics. I would recommend waiting until this is on offer.

So plenty to keep everyone occupied!

New Star GP! An Independent racing game!

For anyone who loved micromachines this game is a must to try at least. Written by the sport-game fanatical New Star games team, New Star GP is their latest Grand Prix influenced racing game.

To find out what I thought, click here to read the review

If I can drag myself away from that for the next few days there will be a Wallace and Gromit review on Friday!

Today's article is...the video!

Yes, I've finally decided that I don't care what the world thinks of me and decided to release this video that will be seen by a total of 5 people ever (probably).

There's a tiny bit of swearing in it, mainly to rhyme! But otherwise it's fairly clean. Just a bit of fun really, hope you enjoy it!

Clash of the Zenos! It's Zeno Clash!

I think I need a post title generator, my imagination is running a little dry.

Anyway, the Zeno Clash review is now on the site, even though I finished the game last weekend it took me some time to write exactly how I felt about it. I think the last paragraph in the review really sums it up for me.

Click here to read the Zeno Clash review!

I've perilously split my time between 2 articles this week and now I'm a little worried I might not be finished with either of them! One is written and one is a video (yes, that's right!) so a lot of it depends on how brave I'm feeling. You'll find out tomorrow!

Anticipation grows: Borderlands!

Co-op games are my favourite!

It's so much more fun to kill aliens/zombies/robots/pirates as a team rather than an individual. Especially when you end up victorious against all odds!

That's why I'm really looking forward to Gearbox's Borderlands that is due out soon (well, any year now at least). According to all known sources, it's a 4 player co-op game, FPS view, where you play as a team to complete what appears to be a huge story. There are over half a million weapon possibilities that are generated proceduraly as you play.

Sounds pretty good eh? Kind of like a futuristic Diablo or Guild wars.

Recently they changed the art direction (for the better in my opinion) which makes it look a bit more unique compared to most fps games. It does make it look like something Square-Enix would make though.

They've just released some new screenshots today and...well, they're just breathtaking.

You can check them out here: http://www.borderlandsthegame.com