More on Volition's Saints Row The Third and on THQ

I have been surprised since I came back to playing Saint's Row the Third last week that it is as good as it is.

Okay, so the "plot" is not good and is just designed to feebly join the missions into some sort of coherent whole but the missions themselves are fun but challenging

What would normally be considered side missions are part of what you have to do to complete the game in SR3.  As I explained in the previous entry, you have to buy properties, clear out gang operations and perform various other violent missions which are marked on the map.  The completion of each of these causes another small area of the city to come under your sway.

Occasionally, when you are in a particular area, your cell phone will ring and you will be called upon to go and defend or attack a location where another gang is trying to impose itself.  There will be several waves of enemies and to get through each wave you will have to kill a certain number.  It is always tempting to attempt to run over them in whatever car you arrive in and as a started this is fine but if you keep going back over them in the same car in will get badly damaged and start to burn.  If it carries on being fired on you might not have time to get out before it explodes and if you have already taken a few yourself then the explosion will kill you.  If you can get through all the waves of enemies then this will also turn a section of city to your control.

I hate the rival gang called the Deckers.  One of their specialist types of enemy blinks very rapidly from one location to another and is very hard to kill as a result.  They attack either with a melee weapon that looks a bit like an (ice) hockey stick or with (I think - they so rarely stay still long enough to tell), dual Uzis.  When you are being fired on from all sides by normal enemies and one of these enemies comes from nowhere and  knocks you down with a hockey stick it feels more than a little unfair.

Saints Row - The Present and the Past.

The last thing I'll say about SR3 for now is about the picture above.

On the right is the version of the box-art for the game that I have and on the left is the version you can buy at the time of writing (see link in left column for my ebay store).  There are many differences between the two images but the most obvious one to me is in the bottom right corner of the box where the Deep Silver logo replaces the THQ one.  I was going to write that I was sorry about the demise of THQ but I am not sure what to say.  The list of second rate IPs they funded (most of which have now been off-loaded onto Nordic games - though I don't mean to imply that Supreme Commander is anything but brilliant) is substantial and the good games that were in their care will all be going to good homes - or at least to new homes where they will have a chance.  I only hope that those which are less good will not be followed up on.  If Nordic restarted the discontinued Red Faction series or failed to end the mediocre MX vs ATV it would be an opportunity missed.  I also hope that where series are carried on they will be taken in new directions.

While THQ's end is obviously a great shame for those employees who have trouble finding new work it is perhaps a clean section on the messy slate of the games industry.

I have bought a Gran Turismo 5 on ebay, a game which I am very surprised not to have played yet, and am quietly hoping it will arrive tomorrow.  I will write about it soon.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky on PC and Saints Row The Third for PS3

I first played Shadow of Chernobyl ages ago and have more recently played quite a bit of Call of Pripyat but never previously got round to Clear Sky, which was a semi prequel to the first STALKER game.

Most of the action takes place on the map of the original game - though the graphics have been improved.  There is one additional area of swampland where the game starts and where it becomes clear that combat is going to be the focus.  Each area is fairly quickly worked through by taking down enemy groups such as renegades, bandits (these two are pretty similar) and the military.  There are also some fetch quests given out by stalkers you meet at camps.  The rewards for doing these have so far been pretty poor; generally you are told of the location of a stash which often has pretty mundane contents - perhaps just some ammo and bandages.

I'm only into the second area so far but I am yet to find a single artifact.  They are much harder to track down than in the first game and perhaps even harder than in Call of Pripyat; though I cannot say that for sure until I have played more.

I am looking forward to getting on with the game despite the one or two negatives mentioned here.

I recently dug out Saints Row The Third after a long time on the shelf.  I had remembered it as being a bit obvious but when I started playing I found it to be great fun.

After a couple of days back playing it I am at the stage of thinking it is obvious but fun.

Most of the challenging sections of play involve taking down large groups of rival gang members while more enemies pile in from all sides.  You can call homies (I hate that word but it is used in the game so I am using it here) to come and help you out.  They can be very helpful but if they get put down you have to revive them or you fail the task and you are vulnerable while helping them.

So far it seems that apart clearing out rival gang areas, as described above, and performing missions, which often involve fights like the one described above, what you mainly have to do is buy properties and businesses around the city.  There is no actual challenge to this, you just have to have enough money and you accumulate money more rapidly by owning more properties and businesses, as in Assassins Creed Brotherhood.

I was using both hands on the controller and taking this picture at the same time so I reckon it's not too bad.

Money is also used to buy upgrades for many things including health and weapons.

Despite all that, the city is full of things to do which you discover by driving around.  Some of those things are pretty insane and I can only approve of that.  They can also be quite challenging, as with a task set by Prof. Ghenki (is that how you spell it?) which I performed last night.  It took the form of a game show in which you had to kill or be killed.  The enemies were mascots and there were fire and electrical traps which you had to pass through but the timing had to be just right.  This was one area where health did not recharge, though there were a few targets which could be shot to improve it.  There were other targets to win more time or more cash and others called "Unethical" and I have no idea what they were for.

I usually failed this challenge by running out of time, though that might say more about my abilities and style as a player than about the game.  I got it after about six or seven attempts and felt that I richly deserved the financial reward I was given.

I think I would recommend this game but could not feel emotionally involved in it as I might with some games.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - PC

I bought KOTOR on Steam recently (for less than £3 during the sale) and it did not appear in my library at first.

It turned out that I was in offline mode.  I don't really get this as the Store was appearing and I managed to go through the buying process.

When that was sorted out I downloaded the game but when I tried to play it only the initial LucasArts logo came up and then disappeared again.  I tried this several times with the same result then tried a generic fix suggested on the Steam help page with no joy.

I uninstalled AVG since it is one of the most emphasized programs on Steam's list of things that cause problems and tried again but still got no further.

When changing the compatibility mode a couple of times didn't work I messed around with the graphics options and at last I got a result.

This description makes it sound pretty simply but it took a while.

My character (Petracina) looking at a protocol droid.

Is it any wonder that I usually play on the PS3 these days.  This game is ten years old and my PC is easily powerful enough to run it but for some glitchy and annoying reason of its own it chose not too.

Still , first impressions suggest that it is an excellent game so I'm going to stop typing and go back to playing it...if it starts.

Dead Space - PS3

This is my first entry for about a million years and I am making no promises about writing more in the future but it entered my head to say a bit about boss fights.

What I have been attempting to get through in Dead Space recently is not a boss fight in the conventional sense.  I am not fighting a single huge monster.

However, it is a section of the game which takes place in a different type of environment to most of the gameplay and the technique required is different to most of the game and, most significantly, it is clearly designed to be harder than most of the rest of the game.  There is a save station just beside the point where is takes place.

I am now fed up with materialising next to that save station and getting into the seat of the gun from which I have to shoot down asteroids to prevent the USG Ishimura's hull integrity from falling bellow 0%, while my colleague issue's unrealistic radio update's about how long I've got to keep it up for and a female automated voice reminds me how slim my chance's are by commenting on the state of the hull.

It puzzles me why it should be necessary to make one section of the game so much more difficult than the rest.  I love Dead Space but Visceral would do well not to test my devotion by frustrating me in this way.  There are a lot of games out there.

Still, since most of those other games also have irritating boss fights I might as well stick it out and try to get through it.

It occurred to me last night that if there was a more skillful gamer in the room I could hand the controller over to them and let them play through it for me with a clear conscience as it is clearly a stupid, annoying and pointless part of the game (I wasn't getting frustrated), but I new as soon as I'd thought it that I would not do this.  If I did it would not be me who had played through the whole game.  I suspect that this is the mentality of a lot of gamers and so cannot help thinking that developers put boss fights in because they hate us and like to imagine our impotent little tantrums.

Or perhaps that's just me...

More Colin McRae Dirt

Since my last entry, which I admit was a while ago now, I have played some Batman: Arkham Asylum (I started my second play-through of this and it's still fantastic), quite a bit of Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (which has grown on me and is also excellent, but still not as good as AC II) but, to my own surprise the only game I want to write about is Colin McRae Dirt.

I last wrote about this title in this entry:

http://therubbishgamer.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/more-uncharted-drakes-fortune-and-colin.html

I finished playing through the career section on Clubman difficulty (the second easiest of 5) and decided to spend some time with the Championship part of the game, which is all rallying and much more in keeping with the earlier Colin McRae games.  It feels like discovering the game for the first time.

I have switched off the annoying co-driver and am relying on the minimap at the top of the screen.  It means having to look away from the road occasionally but also forces you to concentrate harder and so might improve performance.

I did the long version of the European Championship on Clubman and won it.  This in unlocked the International Championship which I decided to do at a harder difficulty level (Amateur - which is 3rd of 5) and got found out.

The first of these (the European) was one of the best driving experiences I ever had with a game.  I felt constantly on the ragged edge but just in control and it was exhilarating.  The driving is beautifully simulated and I feel as if I have mastered the steering slightly more since complaining that it was too sensitive last time.  I will keep persisting at Amateur level and hopefully unlock the Global Championship this evening.

Dirt 2 is now on my Amazon wish list and Xmas might be too long to wait.

LittleBigPlanet

Since I last reported (a disgracefully long time ago) I have played Hitman 2: Silent Assassin and failed to be either silent or an assassin, failing to complete the first mission after many, many attempts.  It says on Steam that I have played 6 hours of the game and I still no nothing about mission 2.

I have also had a go at Burnout on the PS2 and have found it frustrating.  All but 3 tracks are locked until you make some progress and doing that is tough.  There is an event to take part in which involves 3 races.  I can't see a way of saving after getting a good result in the first and so if you don't finish in the top three in three consecutive races you are back to square one.  The real frustration is that not only do you have to do well in the race overall, you also have to reach timing points within a certain limit; the time you get to reach the next depends partly on how you did in reaching the last.  The most annoying thing about adding this complication is that the same demands do not seem to apply to your AI rivals.  I have been timed out when in second place before now!  It is hard to believe that this game was made by the creators of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit.

I have played a lot of LittleBigPlanet and it is my current obsession.  I have now finished the main game in single player and am even tempted to download some additional content.  My lasting impression of the game is of loving it but I spent most of the time swearing in annoyance.  The penultimate level was the worst and I spent hours attempting it repeatedly before I finally got to the end.  I seem to learn only slowly the best way of doing each part.  It took me so long to do this level that a section which had been my nemesis to start with seemed easy by the end because I had then passed it so many times to get to some new nightmare further on.

I have spent most of the last two evenings creating my own level.  It takes plenty of work but is rewarding.  Most of the best bits have come from my happening to notice properties of the game's materials or devices which are not their primary ones.  For example, a moving spike trap is lethal if Sackboy gets caught under it but the top can be used as a platform to bounce off to reach high places.

Another thing I've done for the first time is create an item of my own and I've even put it in a bubble in my level for others to win, assuming I ever publish the level.  It's not a very good item but everyone has to start somewhere and I intend to follow it up with others.

Now that you can get a PS3 for £160 I would recommend LittleBigPlanet to all.  I think that the sale of this cheap machine is probably a good commercial move by Sony, but I am surprised that they have made it.  With this machine having no hard drive to speak of (12GB) is it the console for the download era?  Should I feel encouraged by the implication that Sony are still in favour of boxed games?  I am not too impressed that the new 500GB model comes in the same cheap and cheerful casing as the lower priced version.  The previous PS3 slim models seem to be being withdrawn from sale so these two new ones might soon be the only ones available.  If Sony believe that the PS3 is still the best console in town (and I think it probably is) then why present it in this clunky, plastic fashion?

I have received the copy of Tomb Raider Anniversary for the PS2 which I bought extremely cheaply on ebay (most PS2 games are very cheap and I do like a bargain).  My memory of Tomb Raider Legend is of repeatedly not being able to reach the place I needed to be, so I expect I will have more annoyance to write about next time.

Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion and Grand Theft Auto III

I have been playing Oblivion again recently and have enjoyed it more this time than when first started it a few months ago.

I went back to it after reading Tom Francis's fantastic diaries about his adventures in Skyrim in PC Gamer magazine.  They made me smile from beginning to end and I recommend them to all.  They are in issues 243-245 of that excellent mag.

These pieces made me think that in games of this kind, if they are well made, you can play your own game in your own way.  TF had played as an illusionist in Skyrim and had made rules for himself about only using illusions and no other magic or weapons.  A tough a ask.  I decided to lay down my own rule; less tough but difficult to keep to.  I would not help anyone.

I had made up my mind from an early stage that I would be an nasty piece of work and previously when playing games and trying to be evil I have found myself slipping in to the role of helpful citizen because badness goes against the grain (aren't I boring).  This time it would be different.  I would help no distressed individuals with their stupid everyday problems.  Sadly, almost all side-quests involve doing exactly that.  I am seriously considering amending it to "I will not help anyone except for a named reward", but I feel slightly as if I will just be playing the exact same game as anyone else.  We'll see how it goes.

I have bought GTA III for the PS2 and am enjoying it.  It is slightly harder than I remember (having played some of it on the PC in the dim and distant).  I have had to repeat all quests, except the obviously just story-telling ones, on more than one occasion.  There has been one race so far and the number of times I tried it and lost was miserable.

Usually I came a distant fourth out of four.  This would be either because of wrong turns taken or my car getting so badly damaged that it caught fire and exploded - or a combination of these two.  My competitors were insanely aggressive and seemed to care far more about knocking me out of the race than winning it themselves.  They all drove sports cars which seemed never to crash and burn however stupidly they drove them.  I had to drive whatever I could find.

The large charcoal car of the Mafia guys had a high top speed but being heavy was slow to reach it and awkward in cornering; the Stallions of the Hispanic gangs accelerated well and were fast but lived up to their name and were a nightmare to control.  In the end I usually drove the most common type of taxi which reached an okay speed and handled well.

On many attempts I did not see the finish line and for ages did not know how long the race was or where it ended as only the next two checkpoints appeared on the map.  I just saw a message appear on the screen about 3 minutes in saying " You couldn't win a raffle, loser".  Then an occasion came when I was actually in second place on a long straight, just behind the leader and gaining on him (I was in the charcoal car this time).  I realised that we were approaching the place where the race had started and it struck me that of course this must be the end.  On the map the next checkpoint was straight ahead   Might I actually win this time?  Suddenly, my rival took a sharp right turn and, not knowing this part of the course I followed him.  I knew my mistake immediately.  I had seen the checkpoint ahead.  I knew this was a straight road.  I was in a car park and while the other car was recovering quickly from his error, I was floundering.  I came fourth.

In the end I did win one.  I blew up a taxi and had to switch to another car during that victorious race but I didn't loose first place while I was doing it.  It was almost worth the misery and squeaking impotent rage of all those previous attempts for the glory and joy of that final one.