At Last

After a brief holiday I can now report that I have actually finished Assassin's Creed II.  I've completed the story (including the two extra sequences) I've found all the glyphs and unlocked all the parts of The Truth, I've been to all the secret locations and opened the vault to Altair's Armour and have found all the treasure (this part was a pain and I was disappointed that there was no trophy for completing it).  I have not collected all the feathers but that would take forever so I'm letting myself off.

I took my DSi when I went away and though I did not play it much I made a little bit of progress with The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass.  It is not really my sort of thing but it is clearly a good little game and I will definitely play more.  The characters are great.

I have now returned to  Arkham Asylum (it's the best place for me) and I'm enjoying the game more than I remember doing.  I have been playing AC2 for so long that differences in the controls for Arkham Asylum are confusing me and the angle at which you look over Batman's shoulder is also off-putting initially.

I am currently trying to foil Poison Ivy's attempts to intoxicate the people of Gotham.  If I say so myself, I think my fighting has improved slightly and I am making slightly better use of dodging and concussing enemies.  I'm still pretty bad, though.

I have also recently started playing Split/Second Velocity.  It is great!  It is easy to get into and the early races are quite easy, but it quickly becomes more challenging.  It is one of few racing games where, if you are in the lead half way through you can easily be pegged back and find yourself finishing fourth.  This is because of the power-plays that can be triggered to take you out.  You can, of course, do the same to other racers which is highly satisfying when you get it right.

The game is very well made and the power plays work really well.  They have to be used with caution as it is quite possible to take yourself out with them.

Unfortunately, the speed with which things happen on the screen is so hectic that I have to limit the time for which I play the game as it gives me a headache.

Racing games have been my favourites and I still love them but the more I played ACII the move I felt immersed in it and I am already really enjoying Arkham Asylum again.  I know that these two games are seen as really good examples and that there is plenty of rubbish out there but I think adventure games might be winning me round.