Grand Theft Auto IV... A very late review

Having strict parents is somewhat a burden when it comes to what I can and can't do. An example is that I wasn't allowed to stay up later than 10 pm on weekdays when I was a bit younger and, until very recently, I've had to follow the PEGI system of age ratings. I'm 17 and all the way through my life I have only played 3s, 12s and 16s with a few BBFC age ratings of 15 too. After seeing that I'm actually quite mature, my parents have finally allowed me to buy and play age 18 rated games. By looking through to the back of my Official Xbox Magazine, I realise that about a quarter of the games are age 18 rated. One of the 10/10s has always been Grand Theft Auto IV (GTA IV) and, due to this recommendation and all my friends having played it, I have always wanted to see what Liberty City is like to play in.

I got the game from Amazon.co.uk for about £15 and I've played about 6 hours so far. GTAs have always been open world games that allow you to do whatever you want with a hint of story of reaching the top of the pile of criminals. The game play feels a bit weird as the buttons aren't as responsive as I would have liked but GTA IV makes up for this with the feeling of awesomeness as you commit grand theft auto/hijacking a car. A simple press of the Y button does this and the following police chase is a lot of fun, even if I am really bad a driving and I almost always crash into the back of a fellow motorist. So far I've used my fists, a knife, a baseball bat and a pistol for weapons with my favourite being the baseball bat... It's just fun to use, I swear!

There's a lot of awesomeness in other aspects of the game too; I, for one, love the radio stations in the car. I always listen to "Liberty Rock" radio station and occasionally Evil Woman by ELO or Mamma by Genesis plays and it feels genuinely great to cruise around, and smashing into things, while one of your favourite songs is being played in-game. I also love Niko Bellic and his attitude to most things; kick the living shit out of your problems and they will go away. Yay.

Criticisms of a 10/10 games seem to be in supply however; the camera angles when driving are always too far or too near... A middle ground would be nice. You can die really easily which sucks at the start when you have to pay to get healed up. It's a bit unrealistic when you date girls and they say it's been an OK date despite the fact that you've totalled her car... Also, when I try to cross a bridge there's always a police barricade there and they always kill me as I go past... Is that normal for the start of the game?

Conclusions to be made include that it's a great game to play (good game play, story and freedom) but whether it's a 10/10 game... It will have to pull out all the stops to get that status. :P

SkyrimAddict

Looking Back...: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

Having loved the Star Wars franchise since my discovery of it when I was about 6/7 years old, I have gone on to buy each of the six films with my favourite being Attack of the Clones. Because of my early obsession with the brand, I have always been interested in Star Wars-esque video-games that come out with several for the DS and Game Boy Advance being among a small collection. The Force Unleashed was a re-boot to the franchise... and one that was badly needed. Coming out in 2008, three years after the Revenge of the Sith film, the whole idea of Star Wars needed to be shaken up and changed and that's what Lucas Arts tried to do with this.

It follows the tidings of the secret apprentice of none other than Darth Vader (you play as Vader during the tutorial, if you're interested) and his struggle to find a place by Vader's side. The main idea is that "Starkiller" (as he is affectionately known by others) has to go around after the devastating Order 66 and mop up the last remaining Jedi that are still kicking around and causing a bit of trouble for Vader and the Emperor. Not to give too much away but there are few decisions you to make that ultimately swings which way the story goes and whether you will stay with the Dark Side of the Force but it's not completely your choice.

The game play is practical and an arsenal of Force powers are at your disposal as the game progresses with force pushes, grips on objects, lightning and chokes all making appearances in the game. There's a number of enemies too from the classic Storm troopers (Starkiller is meant to be secret so no-one's allowed to see him, even if they are on his side :S), Wookies and, of course, Jedi. There are also a few rudimentary puzzles that need "cracking" as it were, but they're not strenuous and happily fit the BBFC's 12 age rating due to their simplicity.

All in all, I've always had a blast playing this game even if there are a few things that can be boring such as the loading times, similar enemy types and it can get a bit too easy if you master basic combos. However, these factors shouldn't stop you from playing such a great new direction in the Star Wars franchise. If you haven't played it, pick up a copy... it's dirt cheap these days. If you have, then pick up Force Unleashed 2 which is basically more of the same... Which can only be good, right?

SkyrimAddict

Looking Back...: 007 Quantum of Solace

When I was younger, I didn't get much money to spend on weekends due to a meagre £5 a week in pocket money from my parents. Because of this, I couldn't buy the newest games for my new Xbox 360 due to being quite impatient and saving up two months of money didn't see like a good investment. Because of this, I bought my games from Virgin/Zavvi/Head, or whatever it's called these days, and they consisted of small, unpopular titles that didn't sell well in the market. One of the first games I bought from this little selection of games was James Bond's Quantum of Solace.

Following the non-release of a Casino Royale game, the makers decided to put both of the Daniel Craig films into one game and just name it after the second film. It's result is a great story (obviously :S), Gears of War-esque cover shooting and the awesomeness that comes with being 007. It was ranked as a 12 by the BBFC and you can see why with no gore and takedowns that results in just being punched in the face... Still, at the time I was captivated by the gameplay, gadgets and just shooting people, to be honest, and it certainly laid a path for my love for other shooters such as Halo and BF/BF2/BF3 etc.

All in all, it was one of the first "proper" games I played that wasn't football (soccer if you're American/foreign) and I'm glad I did as it set the tone for the rest of my gaming "career"... But it's not as good as Skyrim :P

SkyrimAddict

Plague Inc.

After seeing a few pictures on random websites about a mobile game called Plague Inc. I really wanted to try it. The concept is basically using the idea of you being a disease and evolving to infect as many people as possible and eventually cause the extinction of the human race. It's essentially a strategy game and, as past posts show, I have a bit of a soft spot for strategy whether it's on PC, console or, as is this case, mobile.

I say mobile but it's just my iPod and I don't use it much. Plague Inc. has changed that however with a lot of game time going into trying to unlock new types of diseases such as fungus and biochemicals. It is fun to play and unlocks the mad scientist in all of us... A little bit anyway.

I must be off; the world needs me to cause its doom.

SkyrimAddict

The Sorcerer's Apprentice for DS

On holiday I had my birthday. On my birthday people gave me presents. I got one video game and it was from my sister. She knew that the only console I could bring was my DS and so she had bought me The Sorcerer's Apprentice for DS. As with most DS games (outside of Mario, Pokémon etc.) it was mainly complied of mini games. The main idea of the game is to go around, using spells and killing inanimate objects brought back to life by an evil sorcerer who's trying to bring back the sorcerer that killed Merlin. Sounds awesome in theory... but as with most DS games, it's ambition is stopped by the DS's power (or lack of it) and there aren't even any cut scenes... just pictures. The use of the touch screen was for choosing different spells and yes, there was some fun to be had by firing off projectiles at "evil" plastic bags but (for me) the DS is just for Mario and Pokémon and this game just implements my position even further. 

Oh, by the way, I'm back! Yeah, I've been on Deus Ex: Human Revolution most of the time since I got back and I'm actually starting to feel like a badass on it, which is good. I'm 26 hours in and I have no idea how much of the story I've completed... Oh well!

SkyrimAddict

Cool YouTube Users: Maxmoefoe

As I'm going away on holiday tomorrow, there won't be many posts over the next two weeks. On the plus side; Maxmoefoe! This YouTuber's speciality is prank calls "every f**ing thursday" with a mail show on Sundays, and as of today, Mondays. I was brought the attention of Max and his pranks when one of his videos was posted on Facebook and I subscribed a few days later due to the quality of the trolling he does. One of the videos includes him claiming he had bought a diet coke and someone had "jizzed" in it... Yeah...

The main reason I like him thought is that he's very down to earth. He knows he's not incredibly famous on YouTube and yet he still replies often on videos and takes comments from viewers as ideas for pranks... It's cool that he does it.

Still, no YouTube for a couple of weeks. :(

SkyrimAddict

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Having played Pokémon to the point at which I'm happy that I have a head start during my holiday, I've started to play Deus Ex: Human Revolution again. I say again as I got it for Christmas, played it for an hour, thought it wasn't for me and left it to gather dust with dozens of other games. I got it out a couple of days ago and started again with an intention of getting as far as possible before the holiday; and I bloody love it!

If I was to use some sort of comparison, think Skyrim meets Blade Runner with the a bit of Splinter Cell: Conviction thrown in for good measure... and it works too. It's story is based on "augmentations" that you, the main character, uses to "level up" and get stronger. Using augmentations is the controversial issue of the day with 1950s' USA style segregation of "AUGS ENTER FROM THE BACK" and just a general air of racism towards people who have altered their bodies. The plot is that you're a security guard following orders from the CEO of the company that makes the augmentations and you're trying to get information (and eventually justice) about an attack on the company 6 months ago.

The great thing about Deus Ex is that there is no set path; you can choose your way through the game. Your attack style and augmentations are all up to you to decide from stealthy and unseen (taking enemies out with melee while cloaked) to gun-toting and headstrong (rushing in and killing everyone before they know what hit them)... I'm the latter.

It's certainly very enjoyable and I long to play as much as possible. Also, it's dirt-cheap these days and I would heartily recommend it to anyone that enjoyed the freedom of Skyrim or the sci-fi/punk feel of Blade Runner.

As with most of Deus Ex: Human Revolution; it's up to you.

SkyrimAddict